Blissfully Ill
by XxBloodsbanexX
Summary: It seems a strange illness is infecting everyone in Happy Tree Valley. And while Flaky seems immune to the illness, she's definitetly suffering the same effects. But is this a simple cold that they're dealing with?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again! Its here, my second Happy Tree Friends story; Blissfully Ill won by a landslide. Just a couple of things:**

**1: Updates will be much slower than before, now that summer is over. I'll try to post as often as I can, though…**

**2: Chapters will be shorter than they were in Flaky Flips Out, only about 2,000 words each.**

**Well, here's chapter one, and I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you for reading!**

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Preface – Chapter 1

Deep down below the town of Happy Tree Valley, there was an enormous cave. It was shaped like the inside of a bottle cap, a small fat cylinder with smooth dirt walls and large rocks protruding from the bottom, blemishing the floor like bumps on the surface of one's face. There grew no vegetation, but the roots of plants and trees managed to peek through the roof of the cave. A slight indent ran along the middle of the walls of the cave like a stripe, inside which sat small, wooden idols standing at attention at random intervals.

There was a large, round, smooth surfaced rock that sat almost completely free of the clutches of earth below it. Its surface, having once been almost perfectly rounded, had been worn away and chipped off into a kind of curved shape that looked like seats. In the darkness two black shapes sat on the seats, each holding a totem in their hands. Their ears were drawn back against their skulls and their heads were leaned close together. One of the figures was slightly more visible than the other – its fur was a lighter shade, perhaps even white. The other was much darker, most likely black, and could hardly be seen in the pitch darkness.

"Okay, so let's review," mumbled the darker figure.

"For the hundredth time."

"Shut up! Like I was saying, review."

"Whatever."

The sound of a hand hitting something soft sounded in the gloom. The lighter figure moaned and grumbled to itself something unintelligible. The darker figure's tail – raised straight in the air – quivered slightly from restrained laughter.

"Review. What do we have to work with?"

The lighter figure shifted its position so that it was lying on its back. "We've got an OCD skunk, a sugar crazy squirrel, a stupid moose, a blind mole, and two kleptomaniactic raccoons. "

"'Kleptomaniactic' isn't a word."

"So?"

"Alright then, so what can we do with that?"

The lighter figure sighed. "Well, I'm sure_ I_ don't know. You're supposed to be the smart and strategic one."

"I'm surprised you know what strategic means."

"I have to, living with you. Honestly! We should have gotten out of this place centuries ago! I can't believe our own cousins would do this to us…"

"Never mind _them_," the darker said. "They can't do anything to us now. They don't even know this place exists."

"Bet they do," jeered the lighter.

"They do not," the darker insisted, its tail twitching at the tip for emphasis. "They don't know what we've created, what kind of power we've grown to posses."

"They know _everything_," the lighter said, sarcasm and mock dripping in thick clots from its lips. The darker hissed and swiped once again at it the lighter companion. Another indignant sound came and then there was a silence between them.

"We can use them," the less visible figure muttered after a minute or so. "Easy. We just have to be creative. You're best at that."

"Whaddya tryin' to do? Make me feel better? I think I might gag."

"Shut up! You know you're better at random, idiotic things than I am. So, what should we do?"

Another silence, but this one was one of thought.

The air in the underground cave was not stale or dry as one might have first thought but moist, kept at careful irrigation with the breathing of the rocks. The atmosphere was cool. The smell of churned dirt and fat roots full of water kept the cave feeling thick with the scent of life.

Much to the distaste of both shadowed figures.

The lighter sighed and said, "We could use the OCD thing for, I don't know, heightened senses?"

"And how do you think that would work?"

"I don't know! OCD is when someone's really obsessive about things being clean, right? Well, we could turn their ability into things like noticing things. We could make it so we could notice small things, important things that we never noticed before - like we'd be heightening our senses."

Another contemplative pause.

"That's not a bad idea. Can we do that?"

"Yeah, probably. We haven't used our power in a long time though… except channeling it above and through the idols."

"We definitely have enough, that's for sure."

"Alright. One down. At least one of us is thinkin'."

"Hey, wait, I'm getting something…"

The eyes of the dark figures totem began to glow white, and the lighter set aside its own to touch the glowing idol. They both held it within their hands and closed their eyes. In their heads they could see what another totem was 'seeing' above ground.

There was Toothy – he was holding the totem in his hands, looking at it with fear plain in his eyes. The two figures could tell that from the background Toothy was standing somewhere outside. He seemed to be running away from something –

The beaver's head was cut off by a flying metal pool – it had lodged into his skull and ripped it off the torso; Toothy's lifeless body bell to the ground and the totem rolled from his hands to stare opposite his corpse.

Further down a line of trees there was a merry-go-round and one of the poles had flown off of the ride. Flippy, who was sitting in the grass next to the park toy and was staring at Toothy's bloody corpse, began to flip out. His eyes grew green and a sadistic grin spread across his face. He chuckled darkly to himself and made his way toward the totem.

"I would _love_ to have his power," the darker one whispered quietly as the pair watched Flippy take possession of the idol. "Do you think we can do it?"

"Why not? His problem is like, what, post traumatic stress disorder, right? That's a mental problem. We could get that."

"I know but… it's like when he flips out he's a totally different person…" The darker trailed off and after Flippy drove the totem into Disco Bear's eye she released hold on their own wooden figure. "What's that supposed to mean?" asked the lighter figure. "Nothing, nothing. Anyway, we should be getting started. And one more thing."

"What?"

"The way their bodies are shaped – the way our bodies are shaped – the spell won't work well with this kind of anatomy."

"So what, do we have be humans or something?"

"No, not exactly. Just more humanoid – more human-like anatomy."

"Ah. And you want me to do that, I'm guessing?"

"I can't do the actual spell casting, but I can provide a base. You just have to do the changing."

"Fine. Whatever; I want this done quick. I can't wait to get out of this stupid cave."

"It won't be too long now."

Their words fell and limply sank to the earth below them, soaking it with a language of ancient, dead tongues.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter two! It's out faster than I thought, but I kind of wanted to update today, and I've been writing more anyway, so I figured why not.**

**There are links to the pictures of the characters, the ones that inspired the fic. See them if you please. And just for the record:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Happy Tree Friends, the characters, nor did I do any of the pictures.**

**Read and review!**

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Chapter 2

Flaky liked mornings most because they were quiet, and because nothing 'eventful' ever happened. Flaky could just wake up and relax for a few hours, laying in the comforts of her peach sheeted bed and not have to worry about body parts flying through her window or psychotic bears or flying squirrels or moles being the absolute death of her. In the mornings, Flaky just kicked back and relaxed.

At least, that's what Flaky did on most of her mornings. But Flaky woke up extra early this morning because something seemed wrong with her breathing. It was like she was breathing… better than she usually did. If not better than she was breathing slower and deeper than she was supposed to. Flaky moaned and cracked open her sleepy eyes to try and activate her brain, tickling her pupils with the soft dawn glow.

Everything in her room was dusted with the colors of sunlight as it spilled through the window above her bed. It made everything seem so much cleaner (it helped considering Flaky actually kept her own room clean). She had left the window cracked last night – something very uncharacteristic for her. The porcupine could smell pine and water. Flaky's stump of a home was stationed right beside a river, one that wound just behind her bedroom.

As Flaky began to get the fuzzy sleep-mask of dreamland out of her eyes, she noticed something strange. There seemed to be two lumps sitting on her chest. What were they? They rose and fell with each of her deep, long breaths. And why were her arms longer? And how come her feet were so far away now? And why didn't she feel her quills digging into the mattress? For that matter, why wasn't Flaky sleeping on her stomach, like she always did?

The porcupine frowned and slowly sat up, hoping that whatever was on her chest would fall off. But instead it rose with her – whatever it was was attached to her body. Flaky began to panic. Was it a parasite or some kind of disease?

Her blanket slipped off and Flaky was able to see clearly what was on her chest and the sight startled her. Before Flaky had wondered into Happy Tree Valley, she had seen humans before, camping and taking hikes and all that good stuff – mostly tourists. But she remembered all of the female humans having lumps like hers on their chests. Not the younger ones though, she thought, but the older ones had them. The ones on Flaky's chest were covered in long red-orange fur that matched the rest of her stomach. She hesitantly touched them. They were squishy and soft. Though most of it was covered by her chest fur, Flaky could still feel the shape of them. She found that in the middle of the front of each one there were even softer spots, and to touch these spots tickled – it felt strange but nice at the same time. The feeling was interesting, but at the same time it made Flaky feel a little uncomfortable.

Flaky stopped touching the lumps when she noticed something else was different. Her arms were longer. Reaching back, she felt for her quills, but they weren't there. Instead she had a long mane of dark red hair with the bangs falling into her face. She moved the hair out of her eyes with a paw and felt the hair. It was soft at the top, but near the roots along her scalp and down her back were tiny, sharp quills. The quills were hidden by the hair and were about an inch long.

Flaky realized that her ears had gotten bigger too, cat-like, and drooped downward. They were short and stationed just behind her new hairline. Tiny quills were at the base of them too. Flaky's tail was longer and covered in the same red fur as the rest of her body, though the fur on her legs and arms was short and the fur on her tail, cheeks, and stomach was longer.

Flaky stroked her fur and felt her face, slowly leaving the comforts of her bed to find a mirror. Her face didn't feel round like it used to be – instead it was more oval shaped, longer, with a little bit of fur growing from her cheeks. The female's hands and feet were smaller, but she still had thumbs. She also saw that she was taller – Flaky had been around two and a half feet tall – now she was about three foot three.

Looking in the mirror, Flaky was amazed to see that even her eyes had changed. They weren't their usual Pac-man black – the pupil was round and she had an iris of color surrounding it, framed by long black lashes. Flaky's eyes were a clear scarlet or apple red color that matched nicely with her fur.

For another hour Flaky sat on her sheets and thought about her new body, experimenting with it to make sure that everything still worked the same way. Her legs and arms, ears, mouth and nose and eyes still worked fine. She could move her tail without difficulty. She could even unsheathe her long claws easily (it was an activity Flaky never did anymore).

The porcupine also noticed that a very important part of her anatomy seemed to have moved somewhere else…

Blushing, Flaky began to exit her room, wondering if she should hide her new body and if so what with. Humans wore clothes – for the longest time Flaky had thought that shirts and pants and dresses and skirts were a dumb idea. Sure, some of the other friends wore clothes, but they did that for fun and comfort, and they didn't _need_ to wear them. But now she found that the humans had a perfectly reasonable answer to that question.

Flaky felt that her new body was something to keep to herself – so, without knowing what else to do, the porcupine ripped off her thick black window curtains and wrapped them around her body like a dress, keeping it held in place with safety pins. It looked weird. In fact, it made Flaky looked like black licorice, but it would have to do until she found a way to get some clothes.

So, deciding that breakfast would help her think, Flaky walked into her kitchen and began to make a bowl of cereal for herself. A little while later there was a knock on her door. Flaky was halfway finished with her bowl; standing she placed the cereal on the counter and hesitantly walked over to the door. She didn't really want anyone to see her like this.

Another knock forced Flaky to open the door. She was very surprised to see Giggles, Petunia and Lammy standing there. And every one of them had changed just like her.

"You too?" all three of them asked in unison, as if the line had been rehearsed. Flaky nodded her head and moved aside so that the three could come in.

Giggles had wrapped one of her bed sheets around her body; now she let it fall to the floor and Flaky could see that indeed her body had changed as well. She had lumps on her chest too, but they were a little smaller than Flaky's and only had a bit of short, fine hairs to cover them. Another thing Flaky noticed about herself and the others was that they were shaped differently too – their torsos would curve inward and then outward, giving them a more defined waist. It wasn't very pronounced for Flaky, whose curves were just barely noticeable, but for Petunia and Giggles you could easily tell they had changed. A small tuft of hair on the chipmunk's head held her large, droopy red bow upright. Giggles's small bushy tail twitched as the chipmunk kept looking over her shoulder and walking in tight circles. "Do I have still have my stripes on my back?"

"Yes, they're still there, Giggles," Petunia drawled, seemingly annoyed by Giggles's off-topic question. The skunk's tail had grown to ridiculous proportions, and was fluffier and silkier than it had been before. Petunia had a lock of light blue hair growing between her darker blue ears and her pink flower was nestled between the hair and her left ear. Petunia's air freshener now rested between her own two lumps, which were indeed larger than all of the other's. She was using her oversized tail to cover the rest of her body, but released it once Flaky had closed the front door.

And then there was Lammy. The lamb was the youngest of them all; Giggles was second, Flaky third, with Petunia being the oldest. She was still wearing her sweater, which seemed to have changed along with her body. She wore no pants underneath and kept pulling the hemline down further. Her sweater was large, white and fluffy, with long sleeves and made of material that hugged her small curves. Lammy seemed to have the smallest lumps out of the others, or they were simply less visible beneath her sweater. The girl's fingers had been replaced with hooves – two fingers and one that acted as a thumb. Lammy's long purple ears fell to the side of her face as Flaky's did and against her bare shoulders. Lammy's short white hair fell like wisps of thread in her pearly blue eyes as tears began to form for what looked like the second time.

Lammy sniffled and ran over to Flaky, giving the porcupine a fierce hug before she could get away. "Oh Flaky! I feel so weird! And Mr. Pickles hasn't said anything to me all day! He hasn't even killed anybody!"

Mr. Pickles, who Lammy held in her hand, was waved in front of Flaky's eyes and then removed.

Flaky patted Lammy's back awkwardly as the girl cried for her unresponsive best friend. Petunia shook her head and Giggles wore a concerned face. "Do you know what's happened to us?" Flaky asked as Lammy began to calm down.

Before she could answer, Petunia shot out a loud sneeze which was followed by a fit of short, dry coughs. It was then that Flaky realized that Lammy's eyes weren't just red from her tears, or her nose stuffed from crying.

"Are you guy's sick?" she asked, holding Lammy by the shoulders and examining the girl's face. Giggles shrugged. She let out a short cough and said, "I don't know. These two seem to have it worse than I do. I'm just coughing. But Petunia's been sneezing and hacking like that all morning."

"She's right," Petunia said. The skunk shivered and made a face at her hand. She asked Flaky for a tissue and as the porcupine went in search of one Petunia explained.

"I woke up this morning because my nose was stuffed and it was hard to breathe through it. When I woke up I looked like this." She gratefully took the tissue Flaky gave her. She whipped her nose and continued. "I snuck over to Giggles's house without anyone seeing me and the same thing had happened to her. And then we went over to Lammy's barn and found out that the same thing had happened to her too. I thought I was the only one who was sick, but Lammy was sneezing and coughing when we got to her house."

Lammy said, "Mr. Pickles woke me up because he said I was moving in my sleep. I don't remember what I was dreaming about though. And then he wouldn't say anything at all!"

Giggles spoke up. "We came to get you Flaky because my mom offered to make us some clothes. You just have to bring some materials. Those curtains would actually make a pretty sexy dress."

Flaky blushed though she knew her friend was joking. "I'm worried," she admitted. "I mean, mostly because I don't know what these lumpy things are for."

It was the chipmunk's turn to blush. "Uh, my mom told me about this stuff earlier, when I woke up. I… she… She can tell you guys later. But we should probably get going. I want to get there before any of the boys wake up."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, chapter three is up!**

**Listen, I wasn't going to post this chapter up so soon, but I have a question for you all. I was debating on whether or not to debut my three OC's in this fic. Half of me wants to, because it would make for more drama (saucy drama... maybe. Probably not...) But I didn't know if it was the best idea, since I was trying to keep this as HTF as possible... but I don't know... It would be a good way to introduce them, sort of...**

**So, give me your opinion on that, so answer in your Review. Please and thank you!**

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**Chapter 3**

Flippy awoke that morning feeling heavier than he usually did. The bear yawned widely and lifted his hands to rub at his tired eyes. Rubbing out the crust, he sat up and attempted to smooth his wrinkled white undershirt.

And that's when Flippy noticed that his stomach wasn't as… soft as it usually was. Opening his eyes wider, he looked down at his torso and saw that his arms were also bigger, thicker. Pulling up his shirt Flippy saw his stomach was still flat, covered with light green fur, but it felt firmer than it usually did.

Flippy wrinkled his brows and threw aside his light purple covers. His legs were longer and thicker, like his arms, and his…his…

What was _that_ doing out?

Flippy snorted and poked it, but it did not retract or disappear – it only twitched. Frowning at such strange events, Flippy got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, grabbing his standard camouflage hat and jacket on his way. Flippy soon saw that it wasn't just his stomach that had changed. Along with his more noticeable muscles, Flippy had grown a few inches taller and his ears had become larger too. A tuft of green hair stuck out from the collar of his undershirt. Flippy was also interested in the fact that his eyes had changed. Instead of their regular solid black, they had thick honey-gold irises around them. Flippy liked the shade. Freshening up and taking his pills, the war bear made sure he was tidy and clean before heading for his front door.

But a thought struck him. He shouldn't be going around with his… thing showing. It wouldn't go where it was supposed to go – he would have to hide it. So Flippy took of his jacket and tied the sleeves around his waist, securing the piece of clothing with a belt.

A round of coughs shook Flippy, but he cleared his throat and went out to see how everyone else was doing.

It wasn't long until Flippy caught sight of Cuddles, Toothy, Nutty, Disco Bear, Pop and Cub. The four of them were sitting around Cro-Marmot's Ice Cream truck; Nutty was licking obsessively at a triple-chocolate hot fudge cherry nut sunday. Cro-Marmot was still in his truck, a hat on his 'head' and his constant smile on his face. But to Flippy – though it was absolutely impossible and stupid – it seemed that there was a tad of concern evident on the frozen friend's face.

All of the other's had changed, just as Flippy had. First of all, every one of them was taller, Disco Bear and Pop especially by a couple of inches. Their eyes were new colors too; Flippy was also interested to see that Cuddles, Toothy and Nutty were wearing strange pants.

As Flippy approached, Toothy was the first to notice. The beaver waved a paw lazily in greeting. It was Cuddles who said, "Oh, hey Flippy! It happened to you too?"

"I think it happened to everyone," Pop said, removing his pipe from his lips. His free hand was rested on Cub's shoulder. The bear cub was also enjoying an ice cream cone, though one not as deadly as Nutty's.

Toothy was the tallest besides Pop and Disco Bear, the same size as Flippy. As the bear drew closer, he saw that Toothy's fur was giving off a sheen he had not seen before. The beaver was gnawing on a piece of pine wood, his long thick teeth crushing the timber with ease. Toothy's ears had gotten larger and the beaver's large tail seemed to have become more flexible with the change, for it was lying in the grass, slightly curved about his waist. Flippy could also see that Toothy had gotten another pair of curved teeth on his bottom jaw, though they were smaller and less visible than his top ones.

Cuddles had changed a lot as well. His ears had gotten longer and grew larger at the ends, ending not in their usual half circle but in a more triangular shape. A creamy shock of hair fell in the rabbit's own golden brown eyes and he kept moving it aside with a paw. The creamy fur on Cuddles's chest was more pronounced as well. The rabbit's hind legs had gotten a bit longer with the pads beneath clearly visible now. He only wore one slipper and was holding the other between his fingers; Cuddles's tail was bushier than usual, rubbing back and forth against the forest floor.

Nutty looked for the most part normal, except the candy sticking to his fur was now quite visible wrapped within the clutches of his short green hairs. The squirrel had his tail wrapped securely around his waist, hiding his legs and making a good table for his treat. His ears were slightly bigger than before, but that was about it. His eyes, though, had changed also. Instead of one being normal and the other being lined with a band of green, one of Nutty's eyes was brown with the other being a pale shade of lime green, though the pupil of the green eye did seem smaller than the other.

Disco Bear looked more or less the same as well, aside from his height. Also, there seemed to be a bit of something like stubble growing off of his chin.

Pop was the largest of them all, and with a slight belly, his long robe just got past his thighs. He now looked as old as he was – Flippy silently wondered if he looked older too.

Cub was larger than he had been, and resembled something closer to a three year old than something that should wear diapers. His legs seemed too long, his features too big. But the little bear didn't seem to mind or notice it – he sat eating his ice cream in silent glee.

Flippy smiled at them and took a seat between Nutty and Disco Bear. "Nice pants guys – I didn't know you were into that kinda thing." Nutty, Toothy and Cuddles were all wearing bright, glittery bell-bottoms that seemed too small for them. Cuddles blushed and Toothy shrugged; Nutty simply didn't answer. "We had to wear them," Cuddles said, looking at Flippy over Toothy. "Disco Bear was the only one of us who had clothes."

"You got that right," Disco Bear grinned, his deep, smooth voice coated with something like self-satisfaction. "Those pants make them look groovy… almost as groovy as me… But not quite." Disco Bear glanced upwards, pushing back his carrot fro to look up at the sky. "I should get myself some sunglasses…"

"On a less random note," Toothy interjected, swallowing the last of his branch, "we should probably go further into town to see how everyone else is doing."

"Y-y-y-y-you th-th-think the others a-a-a-are like th-this?" Nutty twitched as he spoke, and the smell of chocolate and cherries assaulted Flippy's nostrils. The bear flinched; pushing himself away, he turned to face the town. He could just see one of the buildings further down the path.

"Why don't we go find out?"

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Flaky nodded.

"Oh. I see. Alright." She was slightly blushing, but not too badly. The subject hadn't been awkward for Giggles's mother, so it shouldn't be for her. And besides, it wasn't abnormal or anything, to have them. Ms. Giggles said that every female had them. Even with their normal anatomy, they would work the same way. At least, that's what they thought.

Flaky once again stuttered a thank you to Ms. Giggles, who only smiled at the porcupine's nervousness. Giggles's mother looked much like the younger chipmunk – the only differences were that she had darker pink lines running down her back as well as light ones, and her tail was slightly longer. She was wearing an apron (Giggles said her mom always wore it), and in her lap was the long black curtain Flaky had covered herself with. They'd gotten to Giggles's house rather quickly, and strangely enough they hadn't seen any other friends on the way over. Petunia suggested that they were still in their own houses, freaking out about their own changes (it was obvious that the strange occurrence had happened to everyone).

Ms. Giggles (Flaky didn't know what else to call her) hummed as she sewed. Flaky was sitting on a stool opposite the adult, holding her arms across her lumps – no, Flaky corrected herself, they were _breasts. _Not lumps. Ms. Giggles told her she probably had them before, but they were much smaller and hidden under her fur, on her stomach. Flaky realized that she had seen them before, whenever she took bathes and washed her stomach they were there. She hadn't thought much of them. They were like her dandruff or even her tail – they didn't serve much of an obvious purpose, but they were there.

Flaky smiled softly. She was thankful for Ms. Giggles's maternal instincts. She'd been able to tell Flaky was uncomfortable at the thought of unclothing herself in front of the others. Though they didn't seem to have too much of a problem with it (besides Lammy, who thanked herself out loud for wearing a sweater all of the time). Ms. Giggles had distracted the others with the proposition of cookies, to which they'd agreed to stay in the other room, waiting for them to finish baking.

This was all so strange. Flaky couldn't help but continue to question what was going on. Nothing like this had ever happened in Happy Tree Valley, and though the valley itself was a surprise, she'd never imagined something so seemingly innocent to occur. And it didn't even seem fatal at all. Very much unlike Happy Tree Valley…

Flaky blinked. "Oh, I-I'm s-sorry," she stuttered, looking up at Ms. Giggles. The older female had asked her something. "I was l-lost in thought. W-what was it you s-said?"

"I was asking you to stand on the stool. I want to make sure the dress fits before doing the hem."

"Oh! A-alright." Flaky stood and Ms. Giggles pulled the fabric over Flaky's head. She'd left the back of the dress open so that the spikes wouldn't poke through. Flaky was a bit self-conscious about it, disliking the breezy feeling she felt against her back compared to the warmth of material against the rest of her body. Ms. Giggles had been kind enough to fashion the top of the dress so that Flaky's arms were covered with long, flowing sleeves. Flaky was surprised that the curtains were so long. She'd expected a much more… revealing dress.

Ms. Giggles asked how long Flaky wanted the dress (it was just above her ankles) and the porcupine told her it was just the right length. Ms. Giggles ended up making it a bit shorter, though. The bottom of it had been pulled up and scrunched, so that the hem itself was sort of ruffled. It didn't take too long for Ms. Giggles to finish the dress.

"All done," Ms. Giggles said to Flaky, allowing the girl to leave the stool. "There's a mirror in the other room, if you want to look." Ms. Giggles led Flaky out and into the living room, where the other girls were waiting as well.

Petunia was in the kitchen, pulling the cookies out of the oven as Flaky entered. Giggles had been speaking to Lammy about something. The lamb herself was still holding 'Mr. Pickles' in her hands, every once in a while shaking him and asking him if he was feeling any better.

Giggles was wearing a long skirt made from a blue bed sheet, along with a lumpy but comfortable looking tank top her mother had forged from a blue and green comforter while her daughter was out.

"Oh Flaky, you look pretty!" Lammy smiled as Flaky approached, which caused Giggles to look back. "Hey, she's right! You look great!" Flaky blushed from the attention, but it went unnoticed against her red fur. She allowed the girls to admire her dress, feeling the material as Petunia walked in, plate of warm cookies in hand. She set them down on the table, giving Flaky a compliment before going to the bathroom to wash her hands. Ms. Giggles had given Petunia one of her own outfits, since the skunk was the only one tall/full enough to fit into one, though it looked a snug fit. It was actually some kind of uni-suit, with long pants and big pockets on the hips, sleeveless. It was dark green, but looked surprisingly good on the skunk's curvy frame.

Flaky walked over to the mirror Ms. Giggles had mentioned and nodded to herself. She did look really good in the dress. The dark indigo color contrasted nicely with her scarlet fur. She also found that this dress was much more comfortable than other clothing she had worn before, since it actually fit against her body and had an open back part for her spikes and hair.

"Where should we go now?" Giggles asked, biting into a cookie. Petunia had returned and settled herself between the lamb and the chipmunk. She inspected one of the sugary treats before taking a small bite. "I'm not sure," she said to them. Flaky went to stand beside Giggles's side of the couch; there wasn't any room left on the couch for her to sit on, and she didn't want to sit on the arm itself, it seemed rude.

Ms. Giggles sat down in a chair opposite them. "Why don't you go to the hospital-tree?" she suggested. "It's a good place to go – if everyone's changed like you four, then I think they'd all go somewhere big to meet."

"She's right," Lammy said quietly. "And Sniffles will be there. He might know what's going on. He's kind of a doctor, right?"

"Uh huh…" Petunia finished her cookie and thought about it. Flaky piped in. "I-I think we sh-should go. And even if n-no one else is there, it's true that Sniffles _m_-_might _have an idea on what's h-happened."

"Me too!" Giggles agreed. She stood up, fixed her skirt and snatched another cookie from the plate. "Is it alright if we go mom? Do you want to come?"

Ms. Giggles waved them off. "No, I'll be fine. I think I'll go sit outside. If anyone comes by, I'll send them to the hospital-tree."

"Okie dokie then." Giggles kissed her mother on the nose. "We'll come back when we can and tell you what's going on."

"_If_ we find out," Petunia added. She left for the door, Lammy following close behind. They all bid farewell one last time before leaving the tree and heading back into town.

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**If you didn't read the memo at the top, please do.**

**Read and Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four, guys! Sorry for the wait, but I was trying to decide whether or not to include my OC's in this story. I decided not to. I didn't want to risk any potential readers, and besides, this story focuses on almost all of the characters at once - I don't need more to keep me busy. I'll just have to include them in a future story. After Blissfully Ill, of course.**

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Chapter 4

"Gak!"

"Quick doc, you have to tell us, where were you on the night of tomorrow?"

"That hasn't happened yet, idiot!"

"We won't be able to do the surgery with an attitude like that!"

"Ow! Shifty, don't touch me with that! Both of you, get off me! Put me down!"

"I'm afraid our code of doctordum won't allow that, doc, we have to perform the surgery, STAT!"

"Achoo!"

"Ew, stop sneezing all over me, brother."

"It's not my fault! They won't – achoo! – stop."

"Huh? Flippy, help!"

The raccoon duo turned to see Flippy, Cuddles, Nutty, Toothy, Disco Bear, Pop, and Cub standing at the double doors that led into the hospital-tree. They'd all been too interested in the scene before them to intervene. It seemed that Lifty and Shifty had been playing doctor with Sniffles, with the anteater being the patient. They had him half strapped to a rolling tabletop and were about to drape some kind of white blanket over him when they all entered.

Sniffles's long nose/jaw rose above the sheet and said, "Get these two pilfers away from me!"

"Hey, don't be callin' us names we don't know the meanings of," Lifty said, then broke into a fit of coughs. Shifty snickered at his brother's hacking, only to unleash an explosive sneeze – three of them, in fact, in quick succession.

All at once everyone started talking. Flippy winced at the sudden outbreak of noise, but with the wave of a hand, he silenced them. Though all of the Happy Tree Friends thought of each other as equals, it was sort of an unspoken rule that when there was big trouble, Flippy, Sniffles, Lumpy or Petunia would take charge (Lumpy least of all, unless it was absolutely necessary, for obvious reasons).

"Alright," he began. "Lifty, Shifty, please unstrap Sniffles from the table so he can tell us what's going on."

Both raccoons hesitated, frowning, but then released the anteater's arms and feet. They'd both changed in a similar way – they'd grown in length, and it seemed they'd gotten even skinnier. The fur on their cheeks had gotten longer; the thing that was most different about them was that their tails weren't pointed straight up in the air like they usually were. Instead they'd fallen to the floor, and they'd gotten not only longer but thicker, too. The two raccoons bared sharp teeth as they unwillingly freed Sniffles. The blue friend harrumphed as he sat up, and then pushed himself off of the tabletop.

In Flippy's opinion, it was Sniffles who changed the most, and he blinked in surprise at the anteater's new appearance. He'd not only gotten two or three inches taller, but he was bulkier, too. His arms seemed to have grown in length and width, and at their ends were three horrifyingly long, thick claws for each hand. The same had happened with his feet. Sniffles was slightly hunched instead of straight like he usually was, and Flippy guessed that it was because of the thick fur that was growing on the anteater's shoulders. More of it still ran down his spine from the back of his head, kind of like a Mohawk, though it wasn't too long. Sniffles's tail had also gotten a few inches longer, and it was draped in the new, longer fur.

The color of Sniffles's fur had changed as well. While his arms were a lighter blue, with most of his torso its regular color, his chest and back were darker. There were tufts of the straw-like fur growing on the anteater's chest and forehead as well. He was still skinny, but with all of that new, thick fur, it sure didn't look like it.

If it hadn't been for the anteater's indignant whimpers, Flippy might have felt intimidated.

"These two," Sniffles began, his jaw moving up and down like the head of an angry cobra, "snuck into the hospital tree last night and were attempting to make off with a large sum of money I'd won the other day for a science fair."

At the mention of their own antics, both raccoons snickered. Sniffles made a face and continued. "Apparently, they'd gotten themselves killed while doing so, though I didn't hear any of it – I found the bloodstains this morning. They were both asleep in the Rebirth section of the second floor when I went up to check for dailies." Flippy nodded. Since Sniffles lived in the hospital-tree, he took it upon himself to check for any patients every morning, noon and night before he went to bed. Sometimes, after being reborn, the Valley residents had trouble getting up, or remembering how they had died. Sometimes the aches and pains of their deaths still haunted them, and when that happened the agony was almost unbearable.

Flippy was about to ask Sniffles why the two raccoons had been messing with him when Nutty pushed himself to the front, holding an empty, dripping hand out to Sniffles. "Hey Sniffles, d-d-d'ya got a-a-anything to e-e-eat? I ran out of ice-c-c-cream!"

Sniffles sniffed Nutty's hand and then flinched, taking a step back. "Go into the kitchen. There're some pudding cups near the bottom drawer. Nutty, don't eat them _all_!"

Nutty had already left. Toothy followed, and eventually so did Pop, Cub and Disco Bear. Cuddles came to stand beside Flippy.

"I guess we're just going to wait here for the others?" he asked the two older Tree Friends. Flippy nodded, sighing. It was like waiting at base, curled up in the corner of a small room, nine other animals lying half asleep around you, waiting for the order to move out once again. Waiting to hear if the rest of your squad made it out alive or not…

The flashback was swift and transparent, but still enough to make Flippy rub his eyes, unsure of which reality he was standing in. Luckily, Lifty and Shifty tackled him, throwing their arms about his shoulders. "So, what's the orders, general?"

"Yeah," said Lifty, covering his mouth as he let out a small cough. "Y' got a reason my brother 'n I are hackin' our throats up?"

"Actually," Cuddles said for Flippy, "we came here to ask Sniffles that."

Both raccoons scoffed. "The sniffer doesn't know anything about it," Shifty said. "We asked him, what, twenty times what was goin' on, but he said he didn't have a clue."

Flippy sent a questioning look at Sniffles, and the anteater shrugged, somewhat upset at his lack of knowledge on the subject. "I really don't know why they're like that," he said. "I've actually been sneezing and coughing too, but I just thought it was the flu. What about the rest of you? How've you been?"

"I was sick this morning," Flippy told him. At the mention, he felt a cough bubble in his throat, but he ignored it and continued on. "Are you three the only ones here? Have you seen any of the girls?"

"Nope. I don't know where Lumpy is either; I'd prefer it if he never did show up."

"I second that!" Lifty and Shifty added in unison. They glared at each other and then Lifty took off, a playfully angry Shifty chasing him up the stairs. Sniffles sighed again. "Those two are going to tear everything up if I don't keep watch over them. They've already gotten into the bed supplies, as you've seen," Sniffles said, gesturing at the rolling bed. Flippy smiled in sympathy while Cuddles laughed. "Are you two hungry?" Sniffles started for the kitchen. "There's plenty for everyone, at least until Nutty eats all of the emergency sweets."

"Yeah…" Flippy rubbed a knuckle against his forehead. "We'll have to send someone out to go get food, maybe see if they can find the others."

"Huh?" Cuddles followed as the bear walked with Sniffles into the kitchen. "Why do you say that like we're all staying?"

"Because we _are_ all staying," Flippy said, plainly. He and Sniffles shared a look, and then they both coughed. Cuddles frowned. "But… we can't all stay here. We'd need to go home eventually."

"No." Flippy allowed Sniffles to go ahead, and he stood by the doorway with Cuddles. "Listen, Cuddles, I know it's kind of weird, but I don't want anyone else going out until we've figured out what's going on. I mean, how is it that we've all gotten so sick at once? It could be the flu, but we want to know for sure."

"So we're just going to wade it out here?"

"That's the plan."

At that moment, Lifty and Shifty bounded back down the stairs, running past Flippy and Cuddles, diving for the fridge.

"And before I forget; Lifty, Shifty! Could you _please _cover up? No one wants to see all that!"

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"Flaky, stop messing with your dress."

"B-but the bottom is t-t-too high… and the b-back of it is t-too low…!"

"Aw, c'mon Flaky. You look so cute in it!"

"Uh huh…"

"I'm j-just not used to d-d-dresses l-like this."

"Figures. You're such a tomboy," Petunia told her, playfully. Flaky smiled, taking the comment. How many times had she been called a tomboy? More than she could remember. But Flaky didn't really think of herself as a tomboy – just because she didn't dress up like the other girls or play with dolls or go to tea parties didn't mean she wasn't girly. And Flaky thought that maybe a tomboy would have a little more courage than her…

"Look, town's just ahead!"

Flaky raised her head at Lammy's words. They'd just entered the town. Rows of buildings began to stand on either side of her. A few restaurants here and there (they were all empty, with no Friends to man them). As they continued on, Flaky saw that even the playground was quiet, still. A chill ran up Flaky's spine. It was never this quiet.

"Let's go." Petunia began to jog before pausing to sneeze. "I want to get there and see what's going on," she said, starting up again. Giggles hurriedly followed the skunk. Lammy and Flaky glanced at each other before starting after them at a slower pace.

Eventually, after jogging through another dense line of vegetation, the four of them emerged on the other side of the trees. Before them stretched a long, green meadow-like opening in the woods, and in the middle grew the biggest, thickest tree in Happy Tree Valley. The front doors to the hospital-tree were closed, but Giggles said she could see shapes moving around in the other end.

"I think I see Cuddles," Giggles said, her voice rising in excitement. "And Flippy is there, too!"

"They guy's must have gotten there earlier," Lammy said, holding Mr. Pickles closer. Flaky found her body relaxing. They were finally here, in a calm, secure place with more people. Frankly, she'd been freaked out by the lack of life they'd all faced that day. I'd been more than a few hours and they hadn't seen any other Happy Tree Friends besides Giggles's mom.

Flaky also realized she'd started relaxing at the mention of Flippy's name. But why wouldn't she? Flippy was a good friend of hers, and when he wasn't flipped-out (killing everyone), he was a good protector. Though, it would be a lie to say Flaky wasn't terrified of him whenever he flipped-out.

A flock of birds abandoned the canopy opposite the four females. Following them came a loud crashing noise. They all winched, and Lammy and Flaky took shelter behind the chipmunk and skunk. "W-w-what was th-that?" Flaky asked in a shaky voice. The sound came again, practically booming, and soon afterwards a huge truck burst through the line of trees, taking leaves and branches with it.

"Uh oh…" they all muttered, watching as Lumpy's truck careened out of control and straight at the hospital-tree.

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**I just watched the end of Lord of the Rings, and now I'm all emotional. Aw gosh... *weep* The ending is just so amazing!**

**Anyways... *sniffle***

**Read and Review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hm. Chapter 5, then. Sorry for the wait, but I got really sick over the weekend, and I didnt' get much sleep the past two days. I kept waking up coughing. Anyways, here you go. I know that the next few chapters aren't going to be so great (I'm really bad with large groups of people, so I'm going to have to find a way around that...) **

**/sniffle**

**Updates will be slow, but reviews give me hope! /thumbs up**

**Read and review. Please enjoy.**

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Chapter 5

Nutty raised a hand.

Sniffles tried to hold back a sigh as he answered, "Yes, what is it Nutty?"

The green squirrel almost cut the anteater off in the middle of his sentence, but a quick poke from Toothy helped him to stay quiet until Sniffles was done. Then he was off, "Listen, Sniffles, it's not that I-I-I don't th-th-think I – ack! – It's a good idea a-and all but – oh – when do we get the candy?"

"Nutty, I told you, you won't be getting any candy. We don't know what kind of sickness this is and how fast it will spread and whether or not sugar will affect it at all. In fact, I've noticed that some of us have it worse than others."

"Hm?" Flippy had been listening to the discussion in silence, figuring since they were on Sniffles's turf that he would leave the lecturing to the anteater. He sat up now, standing beside the table where Sniffles was standing. Around them the other Happy Tree Friends were sitting at other tables, eating some of the food Sniffles had available in the kitchen. It wasn't exactly much, and if the anteater wasn't living there, it would have been even less. Flippy was definitely right when he suggested a party going out for more food after the meeting.

"What do you mean it's affecting some more than others?"

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Sniffles gestured to the green bear. "I've noticed that you're one of the worst. You've been coughing and sneezing more and more since you've gotten here. I've also perceived that while Toothy, Pop and Cub and Disco Bear are only a little sickly, Nutty, Lifty, Shifty and I have been in worse condition, the raccoons especially."

"Aw, what, you sayin' we're dirty or somethin'?"

"While that fact is true, no, that's not what I'm saying Lifty. What I mean is that this mysterious illness is completely random and has been afflicting all of us, but for an unknown reason it's more prone to certain people."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Toothy muttered. Sniffles shook his head. "On the contrary, a lot of sicknesses affect people differently. I'm just stumped, since we seemed to have all gotten it at the same time. If the source of the illness is something we're all susceptible to, then that would mean it should be affecting us all correspondingly."

"Are you sure it isn't just the flu or something?" Cuddles asked. He was sitting beside Pop and Cub, hands on the table. His long ears were raised upwards and they made the rabbit look twice as big. "Maybe we all just caught a bug and it hasn't been showing up until now."

"That would be illogical," Sniffles said simply. "We couldn't have _all _gotten the flu at once. It takes time to spread. No, I suspect that this is another one of Happy Tree Valley's mysteries. For all we know, this could be another epidemic that will cause all of us to eventually die."

"At least it wouldn't be by a chainsaw or a flying pole or anything like that," Toothy said. Cuddles nodded in agreement.

Flippy sat down for a second and then changed his mind, walking over to the refrigerator as the others talked. He didn't particularly like the idea that the illness was hurting some of the friends more potently than others. That meant some would be weak and others still relatively strong. Things never went well with circumstances like that.

But maybe Flippy was overthinking things. He'd never been too good in the field, at least not until his first flip-out. Mostly he was called to recite important information to the squad, to take mental notes and then inform his team of what he learned. He was observant that way. In fact, it was Flippy who came up with most of the attacks against General Tiger, including the last one, which led to the bear's mental damnation and the general's horrific death.

Flippy sighed. He pulled out a water bottle and took a sip. He'd tried time and time again to forget about the war, attempted to banish it from his everyday life, yet it always seemed to worm its way back. It was like he had to compare _everything _to the war. Why couldn't he ever just relax –

Flippy paused, lowering the water bottle from his lips. His ear twitched. The bear glanced over at the others and saw that Cuddles, Lifty and Shifty seemed to have heard the noise as well. They gave Flippy a look but when the bear was about to dismiss their worry and go check it out another crash sounded.

Now everyone was alert. Flippy made his way out of the kitchen, but the sound of a roaring engine warned him back. He made a gesture to the animals behind him and shouted a command that sounded something like 'take cover'! The Tree Friends fled back into the kitchen just as a giant truck crashed through the wall.

Dust and woodchips exploded forth. Flippy instinctively covered his nose and held his breath, closing his eyes in defense against the flying specks of wood and sand. He could hear the others coughing behind him, and he himself felt another round of harsh coughs building in his chest. He allowed himself to back into the kitchen to find some safe air before he let them rack his body.

It took a few minutes before anyone felt the air clean enough to open their eyes. A huge hole in the side of the tree let in light from outside. The truck shuddered, whined and then slowly grew quiet as the engine shut off. Flippy couldn't see who was behind the front window, but judging by the pointy horns poking through the top of the vehicle, he had a pretty good idea who it might be.

One of the car doors burst open, and Flippy felt everyone else flinch at the sudden movement. The sound of hacking came through the hazy air and in another second a pair of small antlers were visible. In another second Flippy could see Mime's face more clearly as the male deer attempted to pull himself from the truck. His door wasn't able to open all of the way due to the tree, and he had to crawl out the top and onto the roof of the truck before slowly lowering himself onto the ground. Another figure was following him – two, actually, Flippy saw there were four limbs. While the other two creatures attempted to escape, Mime gave them all a quick wave before going over to the other side, possibly to try and release Lumpy from the front seat.

Another motion made Flippy turn, and he could see shapes coming at them from outside the glass door.

"Hey, isn't that Giggles?" Cuddles came to stand beside the bear, squinting his eyes. "Yeah, it is! Giggles is here!" The rabbit bounded over to the door but before he could get close enough to open it, the Mole managed to get out of the car. The lavender mole had eased himself out using his sense of touch, but failed to move onto the roof of the truck and instead fell forward on the rabbit as he passed.

The Mole paused, grunted as he sat up, but didn't remove himself from Cuddles's back. He made a motion like he was looking around and then patted Cuddles's tail. "Hm. Good thing this pillow was here," he said in his deep, quiet voice. Flippy could hear Lifty and Shifty burst into laughter at the sight.

Giggles came in, and behind her were Petunia, Lammy and Flaky. The chipmunk gasped at the sight of the Mole sitting on Cuddles, but squeaked when she noticed the truck protruding from the wall. She took a few steps back, allowing the skunk, lamb and porcupine to get a closer look.

"Oh gosh…"

"What? How did this happen?"

"…"

"Cuddles, are you alright?"

Giggles knelt down beside the rabbit, who's only response was a weak chuckle. The chipmunk gently pushed the Mole off of him and helped the rabbit up.

While Lammy was slowly making her way towards the crowd, Petunia was getting riled up. She made her way over to Mime (who was trying and failing to open the driver door), pushed the deer aside and practically ripped off the door. "Lumpy! I knew it was you!"

Flippy watched in amusement as the female began to wrench Lumpy from his iron prison. For a moment he was completely absorbed in the scene unfolding before him, but a soft touch at his side made him look over.

Flaky was cowering against his arm, her fingers gently touching his fur. She smiled up at him shyly, asking in silence if he minded her close contact. Flippy gave her a smile back. He and Flaky had been good friends for a while, and he didn't mind her shyness at all. The porcupine flinched at Petunia's harsh voice and shuffled closer to his body, watching with him as the skunk finally pulled Lumpy out of the truck, throwing him to the floor at Mime's feet.

"As if things couldn't get any worse," Petunia hissed. She was carful of Lumpy's new, pointy antlers. The moose – if possible – had gotten taller, thicker, and stupider. He only watched as the skunk took hold of the base of one of his antlers and heaved him up onto his bottom. The moose's feet, hands and nose had all gotten larger, with the replacement of toes for hooves. His fur was thicker, shaggier, and Petunia grunted at its weight as she lifted Lumpy and then released him. "As if things couldn't get any worse," she repeated, putting her hands on her hips.

"Hm, that skunk girl sounds angry," the Mole commented, pointing his cane in Petunia's direction. "You should have let me drive," he said, this time looking in Mime's direction. The deer frowned, shrugged, and began making many gestures that no one at the moment cared to try and interpret.

The deer hadn't gone through much major change. He'd gotten taller, as tall as Flippy, and he'd gotten skinner too. Along with his long sleeved shirt, he'd tied one around his waist, much like Flippy had. Lumpy was wearing one of Mime's shirts too. It seemed that the Mole's sweater had been stretched out – it actually reached his knees. Remembering the girls were here, Flippy was relieved Sniffles had forced the raccoon brothers to tie coats around their own waists.

"Will someone help me with this damn door!"

Their attention turned to the passenger door, which the Mole had accidentally kicked closed during his fall. It looked like Handy was in there too. They could see through the mirror now, and it looked like Handy was trapped inside. He was attempting to unlock the door, but his stubby hands would not serve him. Cursing again, he threw down his hands, made a face and then pushed himself back, resorting to kicking at the window with his feet.

"I better help him out before he beaks the window," Petunia said tiredly, dropping Lumpy's antler, causing the moose to lose his balance and fall over onto the ground. Petunia walked up to the opposite door and tapped on the window, making a gesture for Handy to roll down the window. The orange beaver attempted to do so, but his nubby hands would not serve him. Handy's face scrunched up again and he began to attack the window.

"Stop doing that!" Petunia commanded. She pointed to the roller, mouthing the words, 'try it again'.

Handy frowned but did as he was told, and the window rolled down that time, if only by a few inches. Petunia had to push her back against the truck and hold herself up with her legs pushed against the broken tree to get up high enough to stick her hand in. Flippy saw the skunk bend her arm through the gap between the window and with much difficulty, unlock the door.

Petunia untangled herself from the truck. When she was out of the way, Handy shoved the door open and pulled himself out through the top. Fixing his helmet, the beaver nodded to Petunia, looked at the crowd, and then frowned.

"Thank you all; thank you all for leaving us in the hands of Lumpy."

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**You know, I just now realized how inappropriate Handy's name is...**

**R&R**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here you go, chapter 6. Oh my gosh, I had like, two crazy dreams, and one of them had the girl from the Ring in them, and it was weird, but then it ended up being a flying dream, and it was AMAZING. Oh my gosh, oh my! It was the greatest thing every, and lie, gah! I can't stop gushing about it. I've never had a flying dream before! So... Great!**

**Anyways...**

**R&R! Excuse me, if this chapter is a little drawl. None of the fun stuff happens until later... *pout***

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Chapter 6

"Cuddles?"

"Here."

"Flaky?"

"Oh! Here, Sniffles…"

"Alright. Pop, Cub, Lifty and Shifty?"

"Mmm." Pop lifted his pipe and Cub waved his hands in the air. Both raccoons obnoxiously sat up in their chairs, leaned over Toothy and waved their arms around like idiots. "Oh! Here we are! Over here Sniffles!"

"Will you two just shut up seconds? Please?"

"But _Sniffles_, this is _stupid_!" Lifty whined, slumping back in his seat.

"Yeah," Shifty said. "This isn't grade school; you don't need to call our names to know we're here."

"Everyone who's here, raise your hand!" Lifty shouted, throwing his own hand in the air. Before thinking, everyone did what they were told. Sniffles only crossed his arms in tedium, frowning at the cackling brothers.

"I'm just making sure everyone's here!" Sniffles retorted. But the raccoons seemed to think that was hilarious. They burst into another round of laughs (which were broken into sections by their coughs) before Toothy finally got tired of them. The beaver elbowed them both in the stomach. Lifty and Shifty grunted and fell back into their seats.

"This is kinda stupid," Cuddles said. Giggles gave him a look, but it was only half-hearted. The rabbit continued. "I mean, you can tell the only ones who aren't here are Splendid and Russell."

"And Cro-Marmot," Flaky added.

"Yeah, but when has Cro-Marmot ever been here?"

"We saw him earlier," Cuddles piped in, "on our way here. He gave us ice-cream."

"I still don't understand how he can do stuff like that…"

"Um, guys…"

"I mean, he's stuck in a block of ice – how can he do all of the things we think he does?"

"You don't have to think about it so hard Petunia, this _is _Happy Tree Valley we're talking about. Us dying and coming back to life every day doesn't make much sense either."

"Guys…"

"Achoo!"

"Didn't I tell you to stop sneezing all over me, bro?"

"I told you it's not my fault! I – cough – can't help it."

"Alright, everyone, just hush up for two seconds."

The crowd settled down, resuming their previous positions, staring up at Sniffles tiredly. The anteater sighed, hands on his sides, thinking. When he tore a page off of his clipboard, he said, "Alright, here's what we're going to be doing. Flippy, come up here, please."

The bear stood from Flaky's side and walked onto the table Sniffles was standing on. The second he was gone Lifty and Shifty took residence on either side of the quivering porcupine. "Hey Flaky, looking good," Shifty said, smirking. Flaky couldn't help her blush. "I – um… th-thank y-you…"

"Yeah." Lifty nodded his head, laying his head in his hands. "You look nice in that fancy dress of yours."

"I-I-It's n-n-not th-that f-f-fancy."

"Sure it is!" Shifty put a finger to his chin. "You know what this dress reminds me of brother?"

"It makes me think of black licorice," Lifty answered, licking his lips. Flaky flinched and scooted back in her chair, but was halted by Shifty. "Mm hm." He older brother nodded in agreement. Then, as both raccoons smirked, they bared their teeth and said, "Mind if we had a bite?"

Flaky couldn't help the squeal that erupted from her throat, and the porcupine shot up from her seat, diving towards one behind Petunia, who sat with Nutty and Handy. The skunk frowned and rubbed a hand on her friends back, sending the mirthful brothers a glare from behind.

Flippy growled silently at their antics. Why did they always have to go bugging Flaky? Sure, Flippy understood that it was easy messing with the porcupine, but after a while, wouldn't they just have gotten tired of her repetitive reactions?

Flippy momentarily blocked them from his mind. He climbed onto the table and leaned by Sniffles's shoulder, watching as the anteater drew some kind of three-columned diagram. At the top of each column, Sniffles scribbled the word 'light, medium, heavy'.

"What is that for?" Flippy asked. Sniffles paused and quickly looked over the crowd before the two. "There's just so many of them…" the anteater muttered. Then he set Flippy at his side and, while the bear was slightly distracted with the chattering crowd (though sometimes conversations were halted by fits of coughing or sneazing), grabbed the bear's tail and pinched.

Pain shot through Flippy's tail and shock at the action caused the bear to let out a defensive/surprised roar. Which seemed to be just what Sniffles wanted; it got everyone's attention.

"Alright, listen everyone," Sniffles began. "We've already established that we don't know what in the world is going on, or why we all seem to have gotten something like the cold. But If it's contagious, then everyone is going to have to stay at the hospital-tree until I can judge whether or not we can spread it." This announcement was met with groans, but the anteater continued. "Another thing – it seems that the infection has stages, or levels, and it's affecting some of us more potently than others. Take for Flippy for example."

Sniffles turned to Flippy and without the bear's consent gave his chest a firm pat. It definitely caught Flippy off guard, enough so that he didn't anticipate the stampede of coughs that erupted. He hunched over and covered his mouth with a fist, trying to control the hot, itchy coughs. A few of the animals winced as Flippy fought to regain control of himself. The coughs sounded painful.

"A simple hit on the chest triggered a round of harsh, painful coughs, while I myself-" Sniffles thumped his own chest, "-don't suffer from anything like it."

Flippy attempted to wipe away the tears without anyone noticing. Flaky sent him a worried glance, but he didn't see it.

"So what we're going to do is split everyone into three groups."

"Groups?" Petunia asked. Sniffles nodded and tapped his clipboard. "Yes, three groups. I'll write down who are in the worse condition, who are only moderately sick, and who seem relatively unaffected by the illness."

"Why do you want us separated?" Handy asked. Petunia rolled her eyes but the action went unnoticed by the orange beaver. Sniffles answered, "So I can examine everyone by how they've reacted to the infection. Maybe I can find out why some of us are worse off than others. But until then, it's best to keep everyone separate. So."

Sniffles handed the clipboard to Flippy and told the bear to write his own name down in the 'heavy' column. The bear did as he was told and then Sniffles said, "Does anyone else think they should go on the heavy list?"

"Heavy list?"

"The ones who are sickest."

"Oooh, we do!" shouted Lifty and Shifty. Sniffles nodded to Flippy and the war veteran wrote down the names. "Who else?"

"I think the Mole should."

Flippy glanced up to look at Handy, whose nub was pointing towards the Mole. The purple Happy Tree Friend was sitting in the back, listening quietly to the discussion. He frowned and asked slowly, "What makes you think that, Handy?"

"Aw, come on, you were practically hacking your brains out on the way here, and scratching your eyes like you were trying to wear them out of your skull."

"Sounds reasonable. Put him on the heavy list," said Sniffles.

And so it went on like that. Flippy, Lumpy, the Mole, Lifty, Shifty, Petunia, Lammy, and Nutty were all on the heavy column. Sniffles and Mime were placed under the medium section. That left Disco Bear, Pop, Cub, and Handy beneath the light section. Cuddles, Giggles, and Flaky, on the other hand…

"You three don't seem to have acquired any attributes of the infection," Sniffles told them. The three stood before him; he'd left his position at the table and had sent Flippy off to escort everyone to their hospital rooms. Animals that were on the heavy list would be kept on the first floor – there was a large enough room in the back, and they would be close enough for anyone to reach in short notice. The mediums would be placed on the second floor, in a slightly smaller room but still big enough, and the lights would be across from them, in a room just big enough for four people.

"What does that mean for us?" Giggles asked. Flaky stood at the chipmunk's side, ears down, eyes looking at Sniffles through a curtain of her hair (she found it was useful for avoiding eye contact at certain times and enjoyed the ability to do so). She was nervous, not for herself but for everyone else. Though it was a regular thing to die, it almost always happened in horrifically painful ways. What if the disease got worse? None of the Happy Tree Friends liked pain all that much, and accepting death was a crime against instinct. They would always fight until the end. And even when the end came it was still scary.

Flaky also wondered why she herself hadn't been affected at all. Sure, Cuddles and Giggles weren't _as bad_ as the others, but Flaky noticed she was the only one who hadn't been coughing or sneezing at all. There seemed absolutely nothing wrong with her. The fact made her curious.

Sniffles was answering Giggles's question. "What it means is that, since I myself won't be able to keep watch on everyone, you three will have to do the honors."

"What?"

"Giggles, Cuddles, you two are barely sick," Sniffles told them. He met their surprise with calmness. "And you, Flaky, you don't seem to be sick at all; it also helps that you have some medical experience. You've helped me out around the hospital before."

"Y-yeah…" Flaky couldn't argue with that. She liked to volentear to helpe friends out when they were in the hospital or when they'd been reborn. It made her feel useful. "B-but I d-don't have that m-much experience… Flippy probably knows m-more about this kind of thing th-than I do."

"But Flippy's sick. Listen, you three won't have to do too much. I'll be in charge of the ones in the heavy room. But as for the lights, you are going to have to look over them yourselves."

"How come?" Cuddles wondered. "Because I'm in medium," said Sniffles. "And I don't want any of them getting any sicker. They might catch more infection if I mingle with them."

"But w-what about you, then?" Flippy said. "Wouldn't you be under the same risk as them, if you were always around the friends in the heavy room? And us too. We could all easily be giving the sickness to one another."

Sniffles huffed, fur bristling, but then he forced himself to calm down. "I'm well aware of the dangers in this plan," he told them. "But it's the only plan I can think of so far. And if any of us four _do_ get sick from being around the others, then at least we'll know that it's contagious. But we're going to have to take some risks if we want to try and figure out what's going on."

The three nodded, and Sniffles went on to tell them more about their jobs. Cuddles would check up on the guys, while Giggles and Flaky kept an eye on the females. But Cuddles didn't agree with that plan.

"It's just that there are so many more guys than girls," he said. "I mean, if Giggles and Flaky are only taking care of the girls, then they only have Lammy and Petunia to worry about. I could use a little help, don't you think?"

"That is true," Sniffles said, nodding his head. He turned to Giggles and Flaky. "One of you girls is going to have to take up both duties. Are either of you willing to help Cuddles with the males?"

Flaky and Giggles exchanged a look. Though they didn't mind the males, the idea of taking care of them seemed strange. At first Flaky expected Giggles to answer the call immediately. But then Flaky remembered that she was the least sick of them all. She might be less likely to catch anything, if she hadn't already. And most of the boys were in the heavy ward. It would be best if she took the job.

Another thing was that Flippy was in the heavy ward. If she helped out with males and females, then she would be able to see him more often. The thought made Flaky feel relaxed.

"I, um, I'll do it," she stuttered, raising her hand. Sniffles gave her a look but then smiled and nodded. "Alright then. Cuddles, Flaky will help you with the males. Now, let's go about this the right way. Cuddles, Giggles, first you two will…"

**

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Go review now! I commandeth thee! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Here you are. You spoiled, lucky people. **

**I wasn't planning on posting this today... I was going to make you all wait a little longer...**

**I wrote pretty much all of this this morning, feeling that I didn't have much done and forced myself to do it. I actually ended up writing more than I expected.**

**Look out for mistakes, please. I need to go now, got to do stuff, I want to get this up. So here's chapter 7!**

**Read and Review! Show your gratitude! Rawr!**

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Chapter 7

The day went on from there. Sniffles assigned everyone a job, and no one was in the mood to question his authority.

Cuddles went out to get more food. Sniffles agreed with Flippy – there wasn't much here, and it was best if they went out and got more now rather than later. Since Cuddles was the fastest of the three helpers, he would be able to go from house to house and bring back food.

Giggles went out to go fetch her mom. Although Sniffles was against the idea (Flaky had told him that the chipmunk's mother wasn't sick), the fact was that everyone needed clothes. Shirts and bellbottom pants weren't going to last anyone long. So, after gathering everyone's consent, Giggles was to go get her mom and visit every house that had usable material, return, and help her sew more clothing.

For the first few hours of this arrangement, Flaky was with Sniffles, helping the anteater fix hospital beds for the others, organize medicine, and bring out other materials they would need. At one point Sniffles went to check on his own room. Flaky was in search of a specific doctors robe (it had been modified with the open back for her quills) when a tap fell on her shoulder.

Out of habit, Flaky squeaked and tensed, the hair on her back rising up much like her quills used to. But the inch long quills that were hidden beneath the mane of hair couldn't hurt anyone by themselves, they were too short. So Flippy wasn't hurt by her surprise, but respectfully took a step back and waited for Flaky to calm herself down.

"Oh, hi Flippy. I-I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."

"It's alright Flaky; I'm sorry for–"

Flippy paused, turned away and began a round of coughs. Flaky flinched, but then forced herself to pat the bear firmly on the back, hoping it helped. Truthfully, she was terrified of the possibility of getting sick herself, but she didn't like seeing her friends like this. Some of them could barely talk without something similar to this happening.

"Here," a voice said. Flaky turned and saw she was being handed a glass of water. Petunia was holding the pitcher. She'd been giving a cup to everyone in the heavy ward.

Flaky thanked the skunk and took the water, giving it to Flippy once his coughs had settled down. They threatened to start up again as the bear drank, but he managed to swallow it all without spilling any. Frowning in worry, Flaky pushed Flippy back and made him sit down on an empty bed near the back of the room.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Flippy answered. His voice sounded strained – he swallowed a few times before saying anything else. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's okay."

"Hm. Anyways, I was going to ask you something."

"Uh huh?"

"What does Sniffles plan to do about the hole in the tree?"

Flaky had to pause for a moment, tiny brows furrowed, her brain analyzing the data. For a second the question sounded ridiculous, but suddenly Flaky realized what the bear meant.

"Oh! The hole that Lumpy made with his truck? I don't know – Sniffles didn't say anything about it. I don't know what he plans to do about it."

"You should ask him. It would be best to get that hole patched up as soon as possible."

"I don't see the big deal," Lammy said from Flaky's other side. She had set Mr. Pickles on a tiny table beside the bed, and wrapped herself in the thin white blankets as if cold. "It's the middle of spring. The weather is nice."

Flippy nodded. "Yes. But there's no point in quarantine if the disease can get out of the tree."

"Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense. Well, maybe Handy could help you with it. He's in the light ward, isn't he? It wouldn't be too big a deal if he goes out."

Flaky thought about that. It was true that Handy wasn't very sick, Sniffles would probably allow it. And Handy was always the one who fixed things in the first place. You know, when hands weren't involved and when no one was really around to see him do it…

"I don't see why not. What about you Flippy?"

The bear shrugged and stretched. "Go ahead and ask him. But if you end up helping him out with it, be careful, okay?"

"Okay," Flaky said. She turned before they could see her blushing at his worry. Flippy had always been a little like an older brother to the porcupine, always keeping an eye on her when they were together, when he wasn't flipped-out. It was a little sad, because he always felt so guilty whenever he killed her during his 'episodes'. He would always be right there when she was reborn, apologizing over and over again in that shy way of his. Though Flaky didn't say it, his treatment of her made the porcupine feel special. It was nice to know someone cared.

She opened the door to the light ward. She'd been here about an hour ago, what with both Cuddles and Giggles out and about. She'd taken the stairs to get here. Unlike the heavy ward, it was much smaller, just big enough for the four beds that supported the four patients that would be staying. Pop and Cup had joined their beds and were taking a nap, while it seemed Handy and Disco Bear were playing a game of cards. As Flaky walked over she saw how Handy's cards kept falling from his nubs, and gently giggled at the characteristic scowl that overtook his face with each fail.

Flaky greeted them quietly, and they both greeted her back, Disco Bear with a little more inflection than the beaver across. Flaky whimpered and stepped a bit away from the afro'd bear. She never really liked him. He was much too flirty.

"Handy, I-I was w-wondering if you m-might help w-with the h-hole in the tree that Lumpy made with his t-truck…"

Handy blinked lazily. And then he said, "You should work on that stuttering. It's going to drive someone crazy sooner or later." Flaky blushed at the statement and quickly attempted to apologize, though the stutters kept it long. Handy chuckled at her flushed face and gave her a pat on the head (though it was more like a thump, what with him having no hands). "I'm just kidding! Don't get so wound up about it. And sure, if I must, I'll clean up that stupid moose's mess. But I'll need someone to move the car."

"I can do that," Flaky stated quietly. She could drive alright. Handy nodded and followed Flaky out of the ward.

On the way they met Sniffles and told him about the plan. The anteater nodded in approval, and Flaky blushed as he complimented Flaky for her idea. She tried to tell him that it was all because of Flippy's own concern, but she stuttered so much from the unexpected compliment that hardly anything came out, and it was all incoherent, much to the amusement of both males.

Sniffles went along with them to supervise. Handy examined the damage as Flaky carefully climbed into the driver's seat. Lumpy's keys were still in the ignition. Faint light fell in from above, through the holes made by Lumpy's sharp antlers. Flaky shivered and made a mental note to have someone file both Lumpy and Mime's antlers. She could imagine what kind of trouble they could get into. Or who they could get into…

She waited for Handy to tell her to try and back out of the hole. Turning the key, she pulled the stick into reverse and stepped on the gas pedal. For a second the truck moved, but one wheel was stuck against part of the tree, the other caught inside a hole and half flat from loss of air. Sniffles had to help Handy lift it up and out of the hole in the tree before Flaky could back it away from them.

Then Handy went to work. Sniffles had gone to do his regular duties, and Flaky was parking the truck a ways away, near the back of the tree. When she walked back around she could see a tree at the edge of the clearing give way. She jumped in surprise at the impact as it crushed against the earth. Handy called from beyond the trees for Flaky to bring him some rope. She did as she was told. Handy had chewed the trunk into pieces and Flaky helped him bring those pieces back to the hospital-tree in trips.

"What do you need all of this for?" Flaky asked.

Handy said, "Sniffles told me there aren't any saws or hammers or nails around here, so I'm going to have to fix this hole the good ol' fashion way. Thanks," he added as Flaky settled the last slabs of wood along with the others, which stood in a pile. "Alrighty then, I'll need you to go and fetch a few buckets of water; you can get them from the sinks or tubs."

With a nod, Flaky departed. She couldn't find any buckets, but there were big enough bowls in the kitchen, so she used those. The hospital-tree itself was very clean and open. The floors were wood, with only the bathrooms and kitchen being otherwise. The wards were carpeted flooring. With high ceilings and short hallways, it was a wide environment, one that Flaky enjoyed. It always smelt like cleaning supplies, too. Sniffles didn't allow it to get too filthy.

She brought the bowls out one by one, and by the time she had a fourth bowl outside, Handy had chewed the logs into long rectangular strips. He was munching on some of the wood when Flaky came out with the last bowl. "Ah, you got'em all! Bowls will work better than buckets, good work Flaky!"

"Th-thank you, H-Handy. W-what do you want m-me to do n-now?"

"Put some dirt in the bowls and mix it up real good."

It was a strange command, but Flaky followed instructions. Digging up handfuls of dirt (she let her claws slide out), she gently dropped them into the bowls of water. Once a bowl was nearly filled, Flaky would mix it up with her hands until it became squishy mud. Handy would glance over at her from time to time, telling here when there was too much mud, not enough water or vice versa.

Then, once the porcupine was finished, Handy began patching the hole up. With wood and mud.

It was interesting to watch. The orange beaver would take a piece of wood, grab a handful of mud, and then lather the wet dirt in the spot he was going to put it. He started at the inside first, filling in the gap with slaps going straight across the hole. But as the finished the first layer, Handy asked Flaky to go and get sticks, twigs and leaves. She fetched the materials he asked for and eventually assisted in the reconstruction of the wall. He showed her how to do it. She would grab a handful of mud, a fistful of twigs and leaves and then use both to fill in holes between larger pieces of wood. Then she would step back and allow Handy to use his tail to pat it firmly down.

It took almost three hours, but Flaky was surprised to find she was having fun doing it. As the sun began to set, she saw three figures in the distance, emerging from the trees. It was Giggles, Cuddles, and Giggles's mother. The rabbit was pulling two wheelbarrows, each overflowing with cans and packets of food, some of it being wrapped or sealed in plastic. Both Giggles and her mom were carrying armfuls of clothes. Flaky could pick out rolls of Disco Bear's outfits, some of Flippy's army jackets and undershirts, as well as shirts that belonged to Mime, the Mole, and some of Lammy's own sweaters. They also carried curtains, blankets, sheets – anything that could be used to make clothes. Flaky was impressed with their load.

Handy spotted them too, and waved Flaky off when she turned back to the beaver. "Go along and help them bring stuff in," he told her kindly. "But you should probably go wash your hands first. You're covered in mud." This last bit came out as a chuckle, and Flaky blushed. She must look something close to a lake monster – or worse, Russell back from sea.

The porcupine dashed inside. Going straight for the bathroom, she saw Petunia and Nutty talking outside of the heavy ward. Flaky paused and debated on whether or not to go over and shoo them back into the room. They weren't supposed to be outside. But the skunk spotted Flaky before the porcupine could say anything. Petunia seemed to make a guilty face; then she took Nutty by the arm and guided him back into the ward, closing the door behind them.

Flaky released a breath but found something odd, out of place. Maybe they just didn't like being cooped up in one spot, her brain reasoned. Flaky decided to shrug the occurrence off. A tiny act of rebellion never hurt anybody.

Quickly, Flaky washed off her hands and feet, and then sighed as she inspected her curtain dress. It was caked in dried mud, resembling something like a dirty grape. Flaky hoped that she wouldn't have to sleep in these clothes.

Cuddles, Giggles and the chipmunk's mother had already entered when Flaky exited the bathroom. Ms. Giggles greeted Flaky with a smile, and Flaky responded in kind.

The day settled. Luckily for Flaky, Flippy suggested she borrow one of his own shirts for the night since her dress was ruined. She thanked him, blushing, and also received a pair of camouflage pants from Ms. Giggles, who had made a few pairs for Flippy. Everyone else got clothes back, too. Some of the girls got clothes made out of shirts from the boys, while also getting dresses or skirts from the sheets Ms. Giggles brought back.

When it got dark everyone was too tired from the excitement of the day to fix anything elaborate. Mostly they just ate a few cans of soup, maybe some pieces of desserts or meats. Flaky made herself a sandwich with not much on it. It took her last bit of energy just to finish that.

Everyone went to their rooms, tired and weary from the day and their illness. It seemed that Ms. Giggles was catching it too, but not as bad as the others, so Sniffles allowed her to stay out of the wards. The anteater was sharing his room with Cuddles, while Giggles and Flaky would be sleeping on the third floor of the building alone. At first the thought frightened Flaky, being so far away from the others (and the ground), but Giggles gave her friend a hug, reassuring her that the chipmunk would sleep right beside her.

And so they went to bed. Flaky, though exhausted both physically and mentally, didn't fall right to dreamland. Her mind went over everything that had happened in that single day – the change, the clothes, the illness, the division. She wondered if this was just a passing occurrence, something that happened in the Valley and was supposed to happen. The possibility of them all dying from the disease came to her mind more than once, but she tried not to think much about that.

Their room had a window, a round one. It let in some of the soft, silvery light from outside. Flaky could see the hundreds of stars stretch across the sky, and the moon highlighting each tip and curve of the leaves on the trees. Flaky liked the sky, but not because of the beauty. Flaky liked to think that somewhere, another animal that wasn't in Happy Tree Valley could see it, the same sky that she saw. That even though she was trapped inside of this cursed town, forced to be reborn and trapped here because of it, there was still something she could share with that far away creature. It was interesting to think that somewhere, a creature might be staring up at the sky, and the sky might be the last thing it ever sees.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hm. Chapter 8 is here. Sorry for the long wait, but I've been busy and just recently had enough time to actually get to the story again. This chapter... a little dull, to tell the truth, but it kind of helps to set the stage for certain events of the story. I think. Maybe. We'll see...**

**Anyways, here you go! Please review, it gives me hope.**

**I wonder how many of you actually read these memos...**

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Chapter 8

The next morning was silent and grey, holding heavy coats of rain in its foggy midst. A frosty chill poked at the window beside Flaky's bed, and after an hour of heavy white fog, it finally got inside. The porcupine almost immediately noticed the chill and sat up in her bed, slowly, rubbing tired eyes. She woke up with a feeling of passage of time, yet at the same time like only a few seconds had gone by between her falling asleep and waking up. Flaky couldn't remember what she'd dreamed about, but a feeling of forbidding was left with her. There were shadows stirring in the back of her head, sinister, but broken and transparent.

For a moment she was disoriented. The walls were sodden grey, the floor close to her elevated body. This wasn't her room… But then Flaky remembered the illness and the hospital and her head settled. So much had happened yesterday, it took a moment for Flaky to recall everything. And when she did she felt exhaustion weigh on her.

"I can't believe that all happened just yesterday," Flaky muttered to herself. The porcupine, though reluctant to leave the covers because of the surprisingly cold weather, stepped out of bed and stretched. She was wearing Flippy's own clothing, and after a moment of feeling the material remembered that she still needed to find her nurse's gown. She gave the closets of the room a once over but found nothing.

It wasn't until half an hour later Flaky realized that Giggles was gone. She suspected the chipmunk was downstairs, already busy with her own duties as a nurse. Flaky could easily imagine her friend in her own nurse's outfit, scurrying from room to room with a bright smile on her fluffy face. It made her think of spring flying from door to door – the idea made Flaky giggle quietly to herself. She in contrast would probably just tag along with Sniffles, helping the anteater out with whatever he needed.

That's how things went, at least for the first few hours of the morning. It seemed that everyone was in a much better mood than the night before, and were chattering like birds about what they all thought the disease was about. And while the sickly went about their own business and speculation, Sniffles showed Giggles, Flaky and Cuddles how they would be working with their friends.

For Giggles, most of her jobs would be to help with the females and work on making their meals; it wasn't much of a problem, since her mother would also be helping. Cuddles would be busy enough working with all of the males in the hospital-tree, even with Flaky's help. The porcupine herself would be sticking close to Sniffles, helping him with his examinations – she liked to visit the anteater regularly on her own time and help him around the hospital-tree. It gave her something to do and she enjoyed the quiet afternoons here, so Flaky did have some medical experience.

The examinations were predictable enough. Sniffles didn't have much to go on with so little information on the illness itself, so he settled on giving everyone a standard checkup procedure, which Flaky ended up helping with. The usual reflex check, heart check, stomach check, ext..

Mostly everyone was fine. The Happy Tree Friends stationed in both the light and medium ward were more or less healthy, aside from the congestion and headaches. Bodily changes aside, they were fine. But once the duo made it to the heavy ward, they started to notice a steep change in health.

It wasn't that everyone was horribly sick, hacking and sneezing and falling out of bed. While they _were _hacking and sneezing, they seemed not to have much of a reason behind doing so. Their chest and lungs were more or less okay. It was like they were coughing just for the sake of coughing. Neither Flaky nor Sniffles could make any sense of it.

While Sniffles did the examinations, Flaky went on helping with getting new sheets for everyone, and passing out clothes for the new day. She got to talk to Lammy and Petunia for a while. The two females didn't have much to say about the illness, other than the fact that they were getting annoyed at the constant verbal hindrance. Besides that, they mostly just liked gossiping about what the guys liked talking about when they thought the girls were asleep. Flaky had started getting interested when she was dragged away by a certain anteater.

Besides working with her friends, Flaky would also be in charge of cleaning. Flaky didn't mind it at all though. She cleaned her own house very often (she was always afraid of a germ getting into something, becoming a giant and trying to eat her, or worse). Flaky had once voiced these fears to Petunia, but of course the skunk didn't take her seriously. While she laughed, Flaky huffed in annoyance and quietly said, "Yeah, like you can't imagine it happening."

Petunia heard, and then she fell quiet.

Fear of germs aside, Flaky just liked keeping things clean. And luckily for her, Sniffles used the good stuff. In the afternoon she gathered up all of the cleaning supplies and went all through the hospital-tree; when she got to one of the three rooms, she would politely ask everyone to stay on one side of the room when she cleaned the other, and then switch. It took a few hours to get it all done, even with Giggles's help (the chipmunk ended up joining in her cleaning spree). And once the two of them were completely finished, every hallway smelt like lemons and chemicals.

The day went by, slowly at first, but then dipped into night and soon it was over. Giggles and her mom made them all a proper dinner that night, with Flaky and Cuddles delivering the food to each room. The five others ate in the kitchen, talking about their own first days on the job. Flaky didn't say much, only picked at her own salad. Personally, she was exhausted, much like the day before. Trying to keep her back straight, her shoulders up and her small smile on took effort. Flaky suddenly wondered how much real nurses get paid.

Eventually all departed. Flaky hurried up to her room; she didn't bother waiting for Giggles, for the chipmunk had dived into a full on debate with Cuddles over whose job was harder. Flaky almost rolled her eyes.

The porcupine changed into the clothes she wore last night but didn't get into bed right away. She stared at the stark white sheets, the thin mattress, the dull grey walls and she silently wondered how long they would have to stay here. During the entire day, all Flaky had seen and heard was sickness. It was everywhere, and from what she could tell, it was getting worse.

Sleep took her quickly. It gently lulled her into darkness and Flaky followed it deeper and deeper into the black inky depths of slumber.

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He was having the dream again.

Flippy rolled onto his side, nearly missing a bullet aimed at his face and returned fire, catching his opponent on the ear. Cursing at his miss, the bear retreated back into the ditch at his feet.

On either side of him lay his comrades, lifeless, cold and wounded. Blood seeped from their wounds and ran like tiny rivers through their fur, pooling at the base of their hiding spot. The smell of their sliced, burning flesh was almost too much for the bear. Flippy held an arm to his nose, coughed a little and then looked upwards.

Thick black snakes of smoke and ash rose high above them, and the sounds of war exploded in every direction. He could hear shouts of triumph, screams of pain and sorrow striking his ears. The sting of the ash and heat of the air made his eyes water.

Another round of gunshots, and Flippy could almost see the bullets wiz by past his head as he knelt down lower in the trench. The bear groaned, held his head and set down his rifle.

And then suddenly Flippy wasn't in his body anymore. He was above, observing. Though this was strange, he wasn't confused – it was a dream, after all. Instead the bear took a quick look around. He could see other animals running back and forth across the battlefield, some zigzagging like dazed ants not knowing where the trail was. He watched as grenades flew through the air like huge ugly beetles, and the explosions brought on by them caused small gusts of dirt and wind to fly in the faces of fighting males.

The smell was almost unbearable. Dirt, sweat, gunpowder and death clung to every surface, every body, every inch of the earth and Flippy could do nothing to rid himself of the mind consuming odor. The earth itself was scorched black and brown, with trampled grass and tree stumps being the only forms of shelter. Those who did manage to claim trenches were either holding up or already very much dead.

That was when Flippy found his own body again. And he wasn't happy with the sight.

His fur had become disheveled, more so than it had before, and his teeth long and deadly. The green bear below had bags beneath his sparkling green eyes. With a laugh, Evil unsheathed his claws, pulled out his trusty bowie knife and peeked just above the lip of his hiding place.

The opposing side before him, the one shooting the gun, was still aiming for Evil. He made the mistake of shooting a warning bullet just in front of the bear's unveiled head. This only made him angry, though.

Evil laughed deeply, loudly, and then flung himself from the trench, using his knife to deflect the bullets as if they were rubber bands. In no time he made it to his enemy; without second thought he drove the tip of his knife straight down into his skull, laughing as blood spurted from the wound and the body fell limply to the ground.

What was becoming a battle soon turned to a one man massacre. While Evil was indeed keeping a good safe distance away from his team, he showed absolutely no mercy for those who were not on their side. He ripped out their throats, snapped their bones, cracked their skulls against one another, and even allowed himself a light nibble on the fingers of a few of the fresher ones. Even after seeing it so many times it was hard to watch, and Flippy wished he could close his eyes.

And when they were all dead, slowly, as if in suspended animation, Flippy's comrades began to move away. Their job was done. They'd fought for as long as they could, and then Flippy had taken the reins. It hadn't been the first time.

As Flippy slowly regained control of his own body, the others walked off. None stayed to see if he was alright, not one of them. And when Flippy was back in control, they shrunk away at his approaches. The walk back to base was long, silent, and very, very lonely.

A frosty darkness enveloped him. Flippy suddenly felt his own body return, and he wriggled in the blackness. Finding invisible footing, the bear stood up straight and took a look around.

He found a reflective surface hovering in the limitless dark. He took a few steps towards it and then placed his hand against the smooth surface. Another hand mimicked his movements on the other side. Flippy hesitated, then walked in front of the mirror. Evil was his reflection.

Like Flippy, Evil was frowning, eyebrows wrinkled, though the expression seemed odd on his face. Then Flippy wondered why that was. Wasn't Evil's face his own? Flippy drummed his fingers against the clear surface; Evil did the same.

Flippy coughed. He put a hand to his mouth and when he was done removed it only to see tiny dots of blood staining his paw. He blinked, somewhat surprised. Coughing again, he attempted to halt them long enough to hold his hand up, facing the mirror. Evil did so as well and Flaky saw his paw was stained too.

Eventually Flippy's coughing ceased, and only tiny hiccups of agitation thumped against his chest. Then the bear was still. Perfectly still.

Evil's fingers twitched. His jaw clenched. His eyes darkened in thought, maybe even confusion.

Flippy almost flinched as Evil tilted his head and licked his lips, leaving a trail of blood behind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ta Da! Chapter 9 in hot and ready to serve! **

**This chapter got a lot longer than I expected, and I actually had to cut it down a bit, save some for the next chapter. Forgive me if it seems slightly pointless (because it _is _a slightly pointless chapter) but hopefully you'll find it somewhat humorous. **

**Enjoy. Please Read and Review. For me...**

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Chapter 9

"Flippy? Flippy, wake up! Flippy!"

Flippy was roughly awoken from his dream under the shaking paws of Flaky, who stood over him and watched in tense worry. "Oh, thank goodness. You're such a heavy sleeper."

"What? What happened? Is everything…" Flippy drifted off. He tasted something on his lips and tongue, something familiar. The porcupine ignored his questions and helped him sit up straight. Then she handed him a glass of water. Flippy reached out his hand to take it and noticed blood on his fingers.

Surprised, the bear looked down at his hands. They were both speckled with tiny dots of blood. Dissatisfaction caused him to emit a low growl from the back of his throat, but that only brought on more coughs.

Flaky rubbed his back, and when the bear began to regain control she placed her hand on the back of his head and gently pulled back. Flippy was too tired to oppose her, and didn't fight when she placed the lip of the cup to his mouth, helping him to drink.

"What time is it?" Flippy groggily asked when Flaky sat down. The porcupine rubbed her eyes and said with a yawn, "Around five in the morning. That's what the clock said."

"Why are you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep." Flaky did a small stretch pulled the blanket she had about her shoulders closer. "I think I had a bad dream, but I don't remember much… I was walking down the hallway and heard you coughing. You were coughing blood, so I woke you up; I hope you don't mind…"

"No, no, thank you for doing it."

Flaky nodded her head, allowing herself a small smile. Flippy gave her one back.

"So, what's on today's agenda?"

Flaky shrugged her shoulders. "That's up to Sniffles. I just help. By the way, I never asked you how your test was."

"Eh, nothing much." Flippy sat himself up a bit straighter. "The basics. Sniffles took my heart rate and blood rate and all that good stuff – nothing more than he usually does, though he did also take some blood. I don't know if he's going to find anything."

"I think he might," Flaky said. "Sniffles is smart. He's good at what he does."

Flippy nodded in agreement. He never really hung out with Sniffles, but there was no doubt he respected the anteater. He was indeed probably the smartest of them there – if anyone could figure out what this disease was, it was Sniffles.

"Are you hungry?"

Flippy shrugged his shoulders. His thoughts had moved from Sniffles to his dream. It hadn't been the first time he'd had the dream, or the second, or even the fifth. That particular dream (Flippy had quite a few war dreams) had been haunting him for at least two months, fading in and out of detail or memory for each occurrence. It wasn't that Flippy was afraid of the dream. No, what happened this time was strange, because unlike all of the other times, it had ended differently.

Usually, after watching the battle and getting to the mirror, he would still see Evil on the other side. But Evil always did _exactly _what Flippy did. Often the dream ended with Flippy getting frustrated and punching the glass so that it shattered. Then, the blood from his knuckles would drip and pool onto the 'floor' of the black space, and when he looked down he'd see Evil as his reflection again.

It was an unsettling dream, to be frank. Even though Flippy'd had it multiple times and remembered it quite clearly afterwards, the ending still gave him chills. He supposed that maybe it was his subconscious telling him that he couldn't run away from his past, and that a part of him would always still be 'evil'.

"I was going to make pancakes for everyone," Flaky said quietly, almost unheard by the contemplating bear. "I know that Petunia likes blueberry, and that Lammy and Mime like strawberry and Giggles likes chocolate chips – do you have any requests?"

"Requests?"

"For the pancakes."

"Oh. Hm… I usually just eat mine plain."

"Oh, that's alright. But you should try one of the strawberry ones, they're really good. I might make some with banana or raisons, too."

"You can put bananas in pancakes?"

"Yeah. Don't you ever eat pancakes? I get the feeling you don't…"

"Not usually. Most of the time I just eat cereal or eggs for breakfast."

Flaky nodded, and then clapped her hands. "Oh! I forgot Cuddles brought back a lot of bacon. I can make that, too. Then we can save the leftovers…"

Flippy chuckled. "There's never any leftover bacon, I can tell you that from experience."

Flaky blushed, and then laughed with him. "That's true…"

"Is there enough batter for everyone?"

"Mm hm. I checked yesterday. There're about five boxes of pancake mix in the pantry."

"How much does one box make?"

"It depends on how big you make them. If you make them small, about this small," Flaky made a shape with her hands, "then you could make about twenty, maybe thirty if you tried hard enough."

"Wow, really?"

Flaky giggled at Flippy's amazement. "Yeah. I'll go make them now. You can try some with bananas in them, you might like it. Though, you look more like a blueberry person…"

"Blueberry's sound nice."

"Okay." Flaky stood up and pulled the blanket back around her shoulders. "I'll make you some special. It'll take a little while for me to finish cooking – go ahead back to sleep. You'll need it, and it might make you feel better."

Flippy nodded to her, but didn't try going back to sleep when the porcupine left the room. He was still a bit shaken by the outcome of his dream. Instead he waited for Flaky to return. He was sitting up in bed, observing the time as it passed.

Flippy had personally moved his bed away from the others, just in case of any incidents. His gaze swept across the other sleeping animals around him. Petunia and the Mole were the closest. The Mole was absolutely quiet. The skunk had made sure to tidy up her section of the room the day before, putting an extra bedside table on her right to make it symmetrical. She was even sitting on her back, hands crossed on her chest, as if she'd been laid for burial.

The others also had interesting ways of sleeping. Nutty was sprawled out in bed, arms hanging from the side with his legs and torso wrapped in the sheets like a broken cocoon. Every minute or so the squirrel would suffer from some spazmic twitch and mutter a type of candy or sweet.

Across from Flippy was Lumpy, and the moose was dead as a doorknob, gently snoring with his feet hanging off the end of the bed. Lammy, beside Petunia, was holding a pickle to her chest and mumbling. Every once in a while she would sneer or frown and then gently nibble off some of the pickle. Flippy could only wonder what she was dreaming of.

The last two, Lifty and Shifty, were stationed by the door. And though they both gave off the impression that they hated each other, Flippy could see that it wasn't all true. In the middle of the night, right after the end of a different dream, Flippy had been awoken by the sounds of sniffling. He slowly sat up and turned his head to see Lifty sitting up in his bed, quietly calling to his brother. It took a while for Lifty to get Shifty's drowsy attention, and the younger raccoon eventually had to throw a small plastic cup at his brother for Shifty to actually acknowledge the other's issue.

They spoke in low, practiced tones and Flippy tuned out their conversation, watching but not listening. And much to his surprise, after Lifty gave his brother a soggy look, the older raccoon groaned, climbed out of bed and – as quietly as he possibly could – moved his own bed across the room and settled it beside Lifty's. The younger sibling seemed extremely delighted with his brother's kindness and even attempted to give him a hug, but Shifty pushed him away. Setting his fedora on the bedside table beside Lifty, he grumbled, pulled the covers over his shoulders, and turning away from Lifty fell back to sleep.

Lifty sat for a few more minutes, looking from his brother to the ceiling, thinking, Flippy guessed. Then the raccoon yawned and settled to sleep as well, his own back facing his brother's.

That had happened at least four and a half hours ago, Flippy thought, just after night had fallen and everyone had gone to sleep. The bear looked over again and saw that Shifty was back on his own side of the room, having moved the bed back. Flippy saw Lifty was still in the same position and presumed that Shifty had snuck away after he thought his brother had fallen back asleep. He must have taken great care, since his own brother was a thief and probably a very light sleeper.

As Flippy thought about this, he suddenly felt a bit guilty for seeing such intimate actions between the brothers. It was obviously something that had happened before, something private. Flippy knew it wasn't his own fault, but he felt as if he'd intruded on something special.

Eventually he managed to banish the scene from his mind. It was just interesting to think that Shifty would do that for his own brother when he obviously didn't have to. But as the sun began to show through a crack beneath the door (there were no windows in the room, but light from outside could easily be seen through the door), Flippy felt the need to get out of bed. It was a force of habit. It took him a while to fight with his own body and keep settled in the bed. And while the smell of pancakes cooking also called to him, the bear just forced himself to remember that he'd be getting them soon enough.

And soon enough, they did come. By then everyone else had slowly arisen from sleep, and were all sitting up in their beds, waiting for Flaky to enter with their breakfast (Flippy had told them). Shifty, though, was still fast asleep, and Lifty had the honors of jumping on his brother's hospital bed to wake the raccoon up.

Everyone felt better than they had the night before, and almost instantly they began talking about how they felt about what had happened. Flippy kept to himself most of the time and just listened. But as he was thinking a horrid thought struck him. He looked over to the coat he'd worn the day before, leaned over out of bed and put his paws in the pockets. But no, there was nothing there.

Flippy had neglected to tell anyone about the medication he took every morning, and so neither Cuddles nor Giggles had brought any back with them. He knew that it would be too dangerous for him to go out and fetch it himself, he lived too far away. But there would be even more trouble if he lost control here, with everyone around. None of them knew what dying and rebirthing would do to them with the illness. Would it reset or become something permanent? And then there was the dreaded thought… what if they _didn't _come back?

Flippy gulped and sighed. He was going to have to just keep himself under control. For the sake of his friends.

**XxX**

"Mm! Flaky, these pancakes are amazing!"

"Ditto."

"Yeah Flaky. I had no idea you could cook like this."

"Ah, th-thank you Petunia. B-but it's only mix…"

Nutty sat up and nodded, took a huge bite of his own pancake and said something along the lines of, "I brolly mife tesh blrowburry mones."

Flaky only blinked. Then she slowly edged away from the squirrel.

Everyone was enjoying Flaky's pancakes, and the porcupine couldn't help the swell of pride that rose up in her. She never got to help out her friends in such a general way, and it made her feel good knowing that she'd made them all happy. They were all genuinely enjoying the pancakes. She'd spent almost two hours making them all, and once she was finally done everyone had been awake and starving.

Flaky had given some to, Cuddles, Giggles and Giggles's mother first, since they were all already in the kitchen and then proceeded to deliver more to each ward. Though he didn't like it, Sniffles had decided to force himself to sleep in the medium ward with Mime. He said it wasn't so bad. "At least Mime's quiet," he told Flaky when she gave him some raison pancakes. Flaky smiled and went on to the light ward.

She'd made many different kinds of pancakes, so decided to put about five each on a plate (she needed to carry two plates, and then more underneath those for the others, along with napkins and utensils clenched between her fingers). It wasn't easy, but slightly challenging, and Flaky found she welcomed the challenge. She liked a good test of physique now and then.

She had to make two trips with the heavy ward, and everyone kept asking for more pancakes after their previous helping. She was correct about Flippy liking the blueberry pancakes as well – he'd had six before finally giving up, saying he was way too stuffed to eat any more. The pancakes were almost more popular than the bacon.

Now _that_ was an accomplishment, Flaky thought, smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

**Uhg.**

**I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Truth be told, it isn't even a very good one. Not even 2,000 words even, which disappoints me. It was just so _not fun _to write! This chapter = filler = me being not into it. Not to mention I got totally distracted by all these really good, really _long _fanfictions. So I've been distracted. And don't get me started on how retarded school has been this week.**

**Uhg.**

**Forgive me!**

**Anyways, chapter 10 is here and ready for you to get through. I PROMISE that the chapter after will be much, much better (mostly because that's when the important plot-related stuff is coming back. Happy face) It will also be longer (to make up for the 52 words I failed to include in this chapter.**

**So go ahead. Read. *Sigh***

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Chapter 10

Five days went by, silently and hardly noticed by the sick inhabitants of the hospital-tree.

And, curiously enough, every day brought with it more cold. It somehow seeped through the thick trunk of the tree and made its way inside, chilling the air and putting most of the sickly Tree Friends in a bad mood.

Things had gone on without much to report. Sniffles kept up the experiments and was usually down in his room examining the data. Cuddles, Giggles and Flaky went about their regular business without too much trouble. All in all, things stayed the same.

But Flaky was not at ease. She sighed, recalling the lines to a poem she'd once read:

_Crunching powder, white and cold_

_Frosting windows, never told_

_To creep away beneath the door_

_To fade and still and quiet more_

_Winter cease the Autumn haze_

_Color drain to jumbled days..._

Flaky didn't remember the name of the poem, or even where she'd read it, but she did recall that it had been a winter poem. And Flaky realized that, though they'd just entered mid-spring only days ago, winter seemed to be returning early. Much too early. It was soaking into the tree and staying there, yet no one else seemed to notice or care besides Flaky, Flippy and Sniffles. Days were getting shorter, yet to Flaky it felt as if they never ended. She'd go to sleep and wake up to the same crisp, fine sunlight as the morning before. The days were melting together, and something about it scared Flaky.

Besides the change in weather, Sniffles was noticing something with his studies. He didn't give Flaky many details, but in a nutshell, he told her that the disease was attacking each animal differently. When Flaky asked him what he meant, he took her to the heavy ward and showed her.

They started with Lifty and Shifty. As they did the usual check-ups, Sniffles explained to Flaky what was different about their condition than the others. First of all, both had some kind of irritation on their hands and feet - Flaky would go so far as to call it a rash. It was horribly red and, according to both raccoons, itchy enough to drive anyone mad; by the way they kept scratching at it, even after Sniffles's threats to try and make them stop, sort of confirmed their statement.

Lammy wasn't much better than them. She was having mood swings and hallucinations, mostly about Mr. Pickles leaving her. Every once in a while, the little lamb would let out a startling scream and then break into either a) maniacal laugher, b) depressed sobs or c) angry growling noises. (Flaky didn't even know lambs could growl) In a way, it was amusing as well as unsettling to witness.

Nutty was one of the worst. After the first two days without candy, Sniffles had ended up having to strap the green squirrel's wrists and ankles down to a bigger bed. The hyperactive squirrel had struggled endlessly, screaming about chocolate and marshmallows and lollipops, whatever sweet thing you could think of. And just a few days ago, Nutty had started having stomach problems. He would heave at least twice a day (much to Cuddles's dismay), and it seemed his tongue had developed an itchiness similar to that which Lifty and Shifty were subject to. With his hands strapped down, Nutty kept biting his tongue and scraping it against his teeth to try and cope with the agonizing itch. Flaky felt sorry for Nutty, but knew that she couldn't do anything to help until Sniffles found a way.

Petunia wasn't so bad, but she wasn't so good either. She was having endless migraines, and felt that being a little more organized would make her feel better. She obsessively tried to keep everything in her 'area' in its exact place. She didn't move too much in her bed so that the covers would stay nice and neat (though Flaky found this pointless, since the skunk demanded they be washed every morning and replaced with new ones). She had Giggles bring her two cups of water to set on each of her bedside tables, and would scream if the chipmunk put more or less water in one than the other. And Petunia would have an absolute fit if Nutty was removed from her left side. She said it was because she couldn't have him close to the raccoons, because that would be too much green in one area, and since the balance of color in the room was already driving her mad, she would probably die if something like that happened. So even though the squirrel was constantly jerking and shrieking and sometimes vomiting, Petunia refused to let Sniffles move him to his own room.

Lumpy was... well, it seemed he was alright, aside from his own headaches. He would moan and groan, but mostly he just slept. His antlers, following a complaint from Flaky, had been filed by Cuddles to nubs. They pounded against the wall every so often, but mostly Lumpy just lay in bed, dead asleep.

The Mole wasn't too bad either. He mostly just had a bad case of pink eye, or at least that's what it looked like, according to Sniffles. He'd checked the Mole's eyes every day since their arrival, and the infection seemed to be getting worse. At the rate it was going, Sniffles said that if the Mole hadn't been blind already, he would have lost his sight by the end of the season.

But it was Flippy, by far, who was the worst. The bear had been pretty decent for most of their stay at the hospital-tree. But as the weather got worse, so did his condition. Flippy suffered from lack of sleep because of his awful nightmares, and he kept coughing and sneezing endlessly, sometimes without any time to take breathes in between. It was getting so bad that Sniffles was afraid the bear would suffocate himself at some point.

Not only this, but Flippy was suffering from skull-splitting headaches and coughing up alarming amounts of blood. His fur was becoming more grey-green in color, and the bear was always fighting to keep up with what Sniffles or Flaky was trying to say to him. Put simply, it was beginning to frighten Flaky. But what was there to do?

The morning after that, Flaky went to check on the light and medium ward - Sniffles had assigned Flaky to go check on each patient and record what made their symptoms different from everyone else's. Flaky was a little irritated at the anteater's frank order. It wasn't as if this was her training to become a nurse; her friends were all bedridden, for heaven's sake! They were all in pain, and there wasn't much Flaky could do to help except try to make them comfortable.

She went to the medium ward first, and since Mime was the only one staying in there besides Sniffles, it didn't take long for their session to be completed. Flaky noticed that Cuddles had neglected to file the reindeer's own antlers, so she ended up doing it. It wasn't too bad. The fact that Mime refused to strike a conversation with her was a little disappointing, as it made for a quiet filing, but she supposed it wasn't his fault. He was just staying in character.

Flaky paused in front of the door to the light ward. Flaky was uncomfortable around Disco Bear. He was not shy about looking at her and making very actions. Sure, sometimes he would leave her alone. Sometimes the bear wouldn't even register the porcupine's existence, but that was only when Petunia and Giggles were unfortunate enough to acquire the golden bear's attention.

Once again, the bear and the beaver were duking it out, but this time it wasn't cards. They were having a staring contest. And by the looks of it, it had been going on for a while. Handy was sitting cross legged, nubs on his knees, almost glaring at the bear across from him. Disco Bear, was just sitting on his bed, eyes half lidded with a half-smile plastered on his face. Neither of them seemed to notice when Flaky entered. She adjusted her dress skirt and closed the door behind her. The porcupine had finally managed to locate the elusive hospital gown, and was disappointed to find it had shrunk since her last time wearing it. She made a mental note to ask Ms. Giggles to adjust the skirt and chest areas.

"You blinked," Handy said.

"I did not blink," Disco Bear replied simply, rolling his shoulders and giving Flaky a bored look. That was the thing about Disco Bear. One second he was a hip, groovy, flirting disaster and the next he was suddenly too cool for school. Flaky mentally tilted her head at her choice of words. The bear only winked at Flaky, gave her a half-hearted smirk and said to Handy, "Again?"

"Nah," Handy said. The beaver rubbed his eyes and stretched, looking at Flaky. "Hey. How is everyone?"

Flaky gave him a smile and made her way towards the back of the room. This room as well as hers had a window, and Pop and Cub's conjoined bed sat underneath. The larger, pot-bellied bear wasn't there, and Flaky guessed he'd gone to the bathroom. Cub was sitting on the bed, doing a puzzle. He smiled and waved as Flaky came up.

The check-ups went by fast, and sooner than she expected Flaky was ready to leave. There wasn't anything important to take not of. Pop, Cub, Disco Bear and Handy hardly seemed effected by the mysterious illness other than the regular symptoms – coughing, sneezing, nausea – so Flaky just wrote up the results and left. But before she was all the way out of the door, Handy called over his shoulder, "Flaky, how is Mole doing?"

"The Mole? He's alright, I guess. His eyes are hurting a lot, though."

"Can I, uh…" Handy sighed and turned his body fully towards her, trying to adjust his lopsided yellow hat. "Do you think Sniffles would let me see him?"

Flaky took another step towards the door and rubbed her thumbs against the rough surface of the clipboard. She was anxious to go, though she wasn't sure why. But something about Handy's question, or maybe just his behavior was curious. "I don't think so, Handy," Flaky said. Honestly, she was a bit sorry to tell him that. His eyes flickered toward the floor and he shrugged. "Alright then. I get it. The quarantine thing."

"It's just that Sniffles doesn't want anyone getting worse," Flaky said. "Wouldn't The Mole feel guilty if he got you sicker?" The idea seemed to amuse the orange beaver, because he laughed and swung his body back around so that his back faced Flaky. "Yeah, I guess. But Mole isn't one to get guilty over that kind of stuff. More than likely he'd just blame me for getting too close."

"Mmm…" Flaky didn't know exactly what to say, and felt that something indeed needed to be said, but neither porcupine nor beaver spoke. So Flaky stepped out and gently closed the door behind her.

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**Review. Please. Or I'll be sad...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ha! I told you chapter 11 would be up fast! I'm totally ALL ABOUT this kind of crap! I'm so freakin' excited! I'm using _way _too many exclimation points!**

**Nyeegh!**

**Okay... okay... *deep breathes***

**Okay, I'm okay. But seriously. I've already got the _next_ chapter done! Actually, this chapter was longer, but it started getting a little _too_ long so I decided to cut it off (which is funny, because the next chapter has about five great stopping points I could have used). But I decided it was long enough and I didn't want to have to write more than I needed. I might post again today, so stay tuned! **

**Nya! So FREAKIN' excited! *jittery***

**I have to go on a walk... but I'll be back! I expect reviews of thankfulness! **

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Chapter 11

Flaky finished making the sandwiches and picked one plate up in each hand. Delivering one to Ms. Giggles, Flaky then turned her course towards Sniffles's room. She slowly stepped down the three wooden steps and knocked with her free hand. "Sniffles? Are you in there?"

The anteater's voice was faint. "Yes Flaky?"

"I brought you lunch."

"Lunch?" A pause. Flaky sighed. She imagined him looking up at his clock. "Oh, alright. Come in."

Flaky opened the door slowly and eased inside, watching for anything dangerous or expensive near the door. Sniffles's room was only half of an actual _room,_ with the other half being completely dedicated to his studies. A mini lab, you could say, which Flaky thought was very unsafe. There were needles and beakers and test tubes and flasks and all kinds of breakable glass and expensive equipment over there. Not to mention all of the chemicals Sniffles were probably using would no doubt contaminate his room, especially if he dropped anything.

It didn't matter that Sniffles slept in the medium ward, Flaky told herself as she approached the anteater, who was sitting on his desk on the actual roomy side of his room. He spent hours down here, and when he wasn't down here conducting experiments and trying to find a cure or at least a reason for this epidemic, he was upstairs, taking tests and worrying about his friends. Flaky was beginning to worry about Sniffles, and not in her usual worrying way. The porcupine was genuinely concerned. He was overworking himself, making himself sicker, and he didn't seem to be noticing it at all.

Flaky settled the sandwich beside him and Sniffles almost immediately reached for it. His long claws still gave Flaky goosebumps, but that was only because they were so long. And curved. And thick. But she managed to remember that it was Sniffles those claws were attached to. He wouldn't hurt a fly. Maybe a few ants if he had the chance, but not a fly. Maybe.

As he began to eat, Flaky tilted her head to get a better look at his face. There were dark bags underneath his eyes, and his nose and jaw, while busy on the sandwich, seemed red, maybe even irritated. The anteater's shoulders were slumped, and the straw-like fur on his person was limp and a little smelly. When was the last time Sniffles took a shower?

"Sniffles, are you alright down here, all by yourself?" Flaky asked quietly. Even after all this time working with – or maybe it was working _for _– Sniffles, Flaky was still a little intimidated by him. How do you deal with one who is so smart? His intellect always made Flaky feel somewhat inferior. But then again, when didn't she feel like that around all her friends?

It was as if he sensed her change of mood. Sniffles put down the sandwich and gave Flaky a crummy smile, gently patting her shoulder with his long claws. "Don't worry about it Flaky. I'm fine. And you really are helping a lot – I'm sorry _you _have to do so much work by yourself." Flaky blushed at the praise and found she didn't know how to respond. Sniffles chuckled, but then groaned and rubbed his temple. "Hey, do we have any more peppermint tea?" Peppermint was Sniffles's favorite way of dealing with his frequent headaches. Flaky shook her head. "No, sorry. B-but we do have some more peppermint oil. I m-made it a few days ago." Flaky silently scolded herself. There was no need to start stuttering again. "I mean, there isn't much left, but I could poor it in some hot water and you could at least smell it. I think it might help with your nose too."

"Yeah, it has been itching; it started yesterday… morning? Or was it evening? I don't remember." Flaky couldn't resist rolling her eyes, which was something she didn't do often. She immediately felt guilty about it and quickly added, "I could fix you some chamomile tea too, if you want. It'll help you relax."

"Yeah, alright, do that. And thanks again Flaky, you've been a lot of help."

Flaky blushed and tried to hid her face. "You're welcome Sniffles. I just wish you didn't have to lock yourself in your room for so long. Maybe you should take a break…"

Flaky knew the suggestion had been a long shot, and wasn't half as disappointed as she thought she would be when Sniffles stubbornly shook his head. "I can't; I need to keep working. The faster I find the cause or the cure to this sickness, the sooner everyone will be able to get better." The anteater sighed tiredly, rubbing his eye. The dim light of the room threw shadows across the rest of his face. "I found _something _new in the blood, but I can't know for sure exactly what it is. I've never seen anything like it before, and yet it's like it's not even there. I know it's the cause of the illness. If I can just classify it as a known disease than I'll be able to fix everything."

Flaky nodded. Picking up Sniffles's plate and wishing the anteater good luck, she left his quarters. Flaky was actually a little angry at the anteater's unwillingness to at least get out of his room and grab some fresh air, but a part of her understood how he was feeling. Everyone was depending on him; they all had from the very start. He was the smartest friend in Happy Tree Valley, and he was the one everyone went to when they didn't know what to do. He always had the answers, the medication, the knowledge. But now he didn't have any of those things to fight against this illness – he must feel completely defenseless. As if he'd let everyone down by not knowing.

But Flaky was worried about him. His reluctance to leave the dark, his frequent headaches, his itchy nose, his slower movements caused Flaky to be concerned for him. But she knew there wasn't anything she could do but follow his orders. She would help in whatever way he saw fit, but other than that, she would have to leave him to his own devices.

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It was snowing.

Flaky shivered, and it wasn't because of the tiny, sparkling snowflakes.

Flaky had never been a fan of snow. She's always hated it. Well, maybe hate is a strong word – she's always strongly disliked snow in many, many ways. It wasn't that Flaky didn't appreciate the beauty of snow. In fact, winter was one of Flaky's favorite seasons, right after fall (both literally and figuratively, Flaky realized, giggling to herself). She liked how snowflakes fell so gently in Happy Tree Valley. She liked how when it snowed, everyone seemed to be more cheerful, more friendly. Snow usually meant good cheer and happiness.

But today it didn't. Today, the snow was an omen. A bad one.

Needless to say, the weather had been steadily getting worse, and so were everyone else, Flippy most of all. Half of them couldn't stay awake for too long anymore. Rest seemed their only escape of the illness, and even then Flippy would have horrible nightmares; Nutty would dream of things he wasn't able to have; Lammy of losing her closest best friend; Petunia probably dreamed of perfect organization only to have it shattered and strewn around like yesterday's garbage. They slept, but they dreamed, and they dreamed of their illness. It followed them wherever they went.

Not only was the weather shifting for the worse, but so was the sun. It was rising slower, but flying across the sky at an alarming speed, as if the earth was spinning ten times faster. And when it was gone, the moon took over. During all of those nights Flaky had stared out of that round window, she could always see the moon, and it was horrifyingly big in her opinion. It shone like a giant disk, a glowing hole in the sky, or maybe an eye, watching the earth impassively as it massaged the tides back and forth. It had illuminated the first flakes of that night through the rolling gray clouds. Flaky was first to see them fall, and she was horrified.

And though the sun and the moon traded places, everything still felt out of wack. Flaky had long since lost count of how many days had gone by because of the strange exchange between day and night. Did one moon count for one day? Or did it count for two days passing? Maybe it took a number of 'days' to make one actual 'day' go by. Flaky couldn't keep track anymore.

Right now, it was sunny out, but Flaky had only been up for six hours and the sun was already past it's midway point. It seemed to be trying to escape Flaky's vision, as if her inquiring gaze frightened it. The thought amused her; imagine, the great big sun being afraid of a little porcupine.

But it wasn't just this that made Flaky so unfriendly with snow. No, it was because she was a calling card whenever it came about. Flaky had not once failed to die during the first three days of snow in Happy Tree Valley. With her fright red fur, it was so easy to spot her that if you were playing 'I Spy' with a friend and they said they saw something red, the other person's first choice would _not _be Flaky simply because she would be a stupid choice. She was too easy to spot. She was the first thing anyone's eyes were directed towards when it was snowing, and it always caused her downfall.

So Flaky stood outside with Giggles, staring ahead of her at the thin layer of snow on the ground and she shivered again, very, very unhappy with the prospect of having to walk through it.

Giggles was waiting for Flaky a few yards ahead, racing after snowflakes and trying to catch them on her tongue. Flaky cringed every time she actually got one, imagining the flake to be poisoned or something and for her friend to drop dead any second.

Flaky and Giggles were close friends, but Flaky couldn't help but be a little spiteful towards the chipmunk at the moment. She thought about how Giggles didn't have to care for half of the friends in the building, how she was, for the most part, only dealing with the light aspects of the sickness. Really, the only ones Giggles had to look after were Petunia, Lammy, her mother and herself. Flaky felt that was unfair, though she knew she was the one who wasn't being very fair.

It wasn't just the work that made Flaky a little unpleasant towards her friend. It was the whole snow thing, too. She was jealous of how Giggles just seemed to blend in with it. Even though the chipmunk was pink, she just seemed to merge into the delicate white background with ease. She wasn't even trying to do it – Giggles was running around, arms waving, a smile on her face as she chased after flakes. Her pink fur was just light enough so that it was more of a hue against the snow than a solid color.

Flaky was jealous, and she didn't mind admitting it.

"C'mon Flaky!" Giggles called, and Flaky cringed at the chipmunk's loud, bubbly voice. She'd been so used to sounds of groaning and whispering that the loud noises unnerved her. "C-coming Giggles!"

Flaky started after the chipmunk, unhappy about everything that was going on and horrified on what would be waiting beyond those trees. Everyone had been staying at the hospital-tree for at least two weeks, maybe more than that. Which meant no one had been back to town or even their own houses; Flaky was afraid of what they might find. What if crazy snow-men people had arisen from the snow and were plotting revenge?

Revenge on who? Flaky thought.

Revenge on the sun, said Flaky, and the porcupine glanced up at the fleeing ball of fire.

Why the sun?

Because every year during spring they melt because of the sun.

Flaky gasped and realized she was right. It was the snowmen who were behind it all! They'd brought an early winter so they could rise up and were trying to get rid of the sun so that spring and summer would never come again so that they would be free to walk the streets of Happy Tree Valley forever! And they probably wouldn't stop there. If they managed to get rid of the sun, snowmen from all over the world will have the opportunity to rise against their destinies of melting every season and they would ensue perpetual winter and perpetual darkness and they would end up conquering the world!

What are we going to do? Flaky asked herself. She glanced every which way, spotting Giggles far ahead of her. The chipmunk didn't seem to notice her friend's absence. She skipped steadily along the path that led towards the main part of town. The two of them had decided to go to the supermarket back in town because they were running out of food at the hospital-tree. Hopefully none of it would be too spoiled to bring back.

She's walking right into a trap! Flaky thought, halting in her steps and her head whipped around, searching for plump white figures with stick arms shifting through the shadows of the tree. Every noise caused the porcupine to flinch, and she took a few steps back. She didn't want to go any further, and she wouldn't! The snowmen would get her…

Then Flaky noticed something. Giggles had finally seen that her companien wasn't following her, and was slowly making her way back towards Flaky. And Flaky saw that the closer she came to being upon the porcupine, Giggles's way of traveling changed. She'd started out skipping, then with a bounce to her step, then running and now she was just walking, swinging her hands back and forth in their usual motion.

It was an odd thing to notice, but Flaky analyzed it in great detail, and something about it frightened her to no end. She shivered again. Again, it wasn't because of the snow.

"Flaky, are you okay?" Giggles asked, her voice still quite cheerful but also a bit quieter. Flaky nodded shakily, forcing herself to take a step forward, but then at once taking three steps back when thoughts of homicidal snowmen returned to her mind. Something about this wasn't right, something was wrong with her. She could feel it as snowflakes rested themselves in her long hair. She could smell it in the frosty air, and Flaky realized that the feeling was emptiness. Something felt _empty. _

It didn't make any sense.

A sound; a grunt and a crack, and Flaky let out a small scream, quickly scurrying back towards the hospital-tree and strangely feeling more and more relaxed with each step. Eventually she was far enough that she stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

Giggles was looking at something through the line of dark trees, and the chipmunk called to Flaky. Flaky didn't understand at first, but then Giggles ran into the forest, came back and shouted again. "It's Splendid and Russell! They're still alive!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chap-ter... Chapter 12~! *jazz hands***

**This chapter is freakin' _long_. T'was not supposed to swell to such length, but I guess I got carried away at some points. This chapter, for the most part, was incredibly fun to write.**

**Please, please, PLEASE review! They make me happy and I get motivation points from them!**

* * *

Chapter 12

"Thank ye lasses so much! I wasn't sure I'd be able to go on fur much longer, arg…"

"Don't worry Russell," Giggles said, her arm about his waist as she helped him to walk. "You'll be fine. Everyone's at the hospital-tree right now, and you don't seem too sick."

"It ain't me I'm worryin' about, lass."

The otter looked over his shoulder and spotted Flaky, who was trying to pull an incapacitated Splendid over her shoulder by the tail. She wasn't having a very easy time, but it was only to be expected. The blue sugar glider would not be still, and he wasn't even conscious. When he wasn't tossing and turning amidst the confines of his dream, he was spitting up the contents of his stomach or sneezing and coughing horribly, groaning from headaches or itching his eyes or the skin between his arms and legs.

"He's been like that fur days," Russell called to Flaky, halting him and Giggles's travels to wait for her to catch up. "Rantin' and ravin' like a sailor gone mad. Barely spoke fur the last few days. Got worse the closer we got to getting' 'er.

"I found 'im on me way back to the Valley; was floatin' in the water like some sodden log 'n I thought 'e was already dead. But I fished 'im out with me hook and sure as the sea is briny he was still alive! So I sailed us back to the docks and looked fur someone to help us out, but alas, no one was around.

"We woulda gotten 'ere sooner, but the squirrel was slowly goin' madder and madder. Already lost his powers once we got to the docks, so he couldn't fly – after a week 'er so I had to start carrying the lubber around. Keeps havin' horrible nightmares."

"That sound's awful," Giggles said. Flaky nodded as she passed, and the three of them walked together with a twitching Splendid leaving a trail behind.

Cuddles was waiting for them when they got back, probably expecting help bringing in food rather than bringing in two half-dead males. The yellow rabbit gasped as Russell loudly 'Yar'-ed and waved at him with his hook. As Cuddles ran over, Flaky set down Splendid and looked over her shoulder.

The closer and closer they came to the hospital-tree, the less paranoid Flaky had become. She didn't understand. The further away from the illness, the worse she got. She'd reverted back to her old, scardy-cat state only ten times worse. But when they came back towards the illness, it was as if she was all better. Like nothing had happened. It didn't make any sense. How could being _closer_ to all of the illness actually make Flaky feel _better_?

And it wasn't until right now that Flaky realized how calm she'd actually been during her stay at the hospital-tree. She wasn't half as paranoid as she used to be – sure, she was still worried about a lot of things and concerned about the illness and her friends, but it wasn't raw, irrational fear anymore. Strangely, the idea made Flaky feel a little better about herself.

Cuddles got a hold of Splendid and he along with Giggles and Russell went back into the hospital-tree. Flaky stayed and contemplated her revelation. She sighed, sat down and allowed herself to fall back and be held by the snow. Flaky watched the frozen ice crystals drift down from the gray sky and fall on her nose, her fur and her hair, sprinkling her red body with specs of frozen whiteness.

Flaky sighed. This snow might mean the end of everything, but it was pretty peaceful. The porcupine spread her legs and arms and then pulled them back against her body, then repeated the process. Flaky pushed herself up and looked back down to inspect her snow angel. But it wasn't the shape in the snow that caught her interest. It was what had been uncovered.

Flaky dropped down to her knees and tugged at one of the blades of grass, only to have it break and crumble between her fingers. A shudder ripped through her. The porcupine dashed towards the front of the hospital-tree, and then began removing snow from against the wooden structure. There, at the base of the tree, more dead grass. And it practically turned to dust as when she stepped on it. Looking up, Flaky saw in horror that the leaves and branches of the tree didn't look any better. Of course she'd noticed when leaves had begun falling, it was simply too cold for them to keep hold on the branches. But Flaky had never bothered to look up and see what they looked like.

They were all gray. Some kind of gray that was trying to be green along the spine but failing miserably. The leaves were all droopy and sounded like a chorus of tingling shells whenever a breeze pushed them against each other. The higher they were to the top, the greener they stayed, but the ones closest to Flaky were already crumbing and falling to the ground.

Flaky gulped. She then thought of something else; turning around she ran back to the area where she, Giggles, Russell and Splendid had emerged from the trees. Because of his weight, Splendid had left a clear trail in his wake. And Flaky saw that all of the grass beyond the line of trees was still green. It wasn't dead – it had just been hiding underneath the thin layer of snow. But it wasn't dead like the grass around the hospital-tree. The grass did gradually turn brown and then gray, but that was only as it got closer and closer to the tree…

This was bad. Flaky didn't know exactly what it was, but instinct told her that it was very, very bad.

As if to confirm her theory, a scream sounded behind her.

And instead of running away from the obvious danger, Flaky ran towards it, which was something she never would have done before.

Flaky threw open the door only to be met with scrambling animals and shouting. Lammy was hopping from table to table in the kitchen, expertly landing on her slit hooves, clenching Mr. Pickles tightly against her sweater. Lifty and Shifty were hiding behind an island, their heads and ears poking out every few seconds to inspect the situation. Petunia, Giggles and Cuddles were all cowering in a corner, and Sniffles was half in and half out of his room, shouting about the noise and questioning what was going on.

Pop, Cub and Mime ran from up the hallway that led to all of the rooms, and as Flaky stepped inside, she could see what they were running from.

Flippy. Only, it wasn't Flippy.

"Evil!"

Flaky shuddered and gasped in horror as the mangy green bear snickered, turning his bowie knife in his hands, eyes locking on the one person who hadn't moved an inch.

Splendid.

Russell called to Splendid, but you could tell from his voice that he knew it was pointless. The sugar glider wasn't awake and couldn't move without help, and everyone else was too afraid to try and stop Evil as the bear took another step closer.

Flaky wanted to help. But she couldn't. Her body wouldn't move, and as Evil laughed, he brought down the bowie knife. It split Splendid's skull like a melon.

For the first time in weeks, Flaky screamed.

Unfortunately, this seemed a very effective way to gain Evil's interest.

The green bear paused in his stabbing spree and looked up at Flaky, a frown planted firmly on his face. For a second Flaky thought she could see Flippy in the expression, and a flash of recognition in the bear's eyes. But it was gone all too soon. Evil took a step towards Flaky.

The room was still, and all were quiet. Flaky silently hoped that someone would come to her rescue, but knew no one would. For all they knew, Splendid wouldn't be coming back from the dead. Not this time.

And as Evil was finally standing before Flaky, the porcupine wondered what it would be like to die and not come back. Was there a heaven for someone who'd died more times than they could count? Maybe she'd turn into a ghost and would haunt Happy Tree Valley for the rest of her ethereal life. Or maybe Flaky would just die. Her spirit wouldn't go anywhere. Maybe all there was to look forward to was darkness. Incomprehension.

She'd just be dead.

He was so close now. Flaky could feel his hot, rank breath against her face, and she wanted to close her eyes but in her fear she couldn't. The porcupine whimpered as tears began to form in her eyes. So this was the end, was it? She'd die here and now, and that would be it.

Well, at least it would be by the hand of someone she cared about. Sort of.

But Evil didn't strike. He didn't bring his bowie knife down on Flaky and end her life with a grin on his face. He just stared at her, as if she was some kind of impressive bug in a museum, or something he'd been waiting so long to see only to find it hard to believe it was really there. Evil was intrigued. He tilted his head to the side, dropped his knife and took another step so that he was so close their noses were almost touching.

Flaky stared into his eyes, and there she saw something. It was a glimmer, a wink, a nothing but a something and all too soon it was gone again.

Evil whispered three words. Three small, one syllable words. His voice was deep, gravelly, and didn't sound anything like Flippy. Evil said the words, licked his lips and then he grinned. He said the words again. Still a whisper, but with a scary, newfound certainty.

And then there was only darkness.

* * *

When Flaky opened her eyes, it had only been a few seconds passing, but everything around her had changed. For one, Petunia was standing above her, frying pan clenched tightly between both hands. For second, Evil had been knocked out, and by the process of inquiry Flaky concluded that the blue skunk who stood above her had promptly knocked Evil upside the head the second he bear had been distracted, probably just after Flaky fainted.

Also, everyone was back on ground level and not hiding behind counters or standing on tables, talking. Sniffles was talking to Giggles and Cuddles, still unsure of what had happened while the other sick residents either talked among themselves, stared at Splendid's dead body or simply stood in shock, too surprised by the death of a friend to know what to think.

Flaky groaned as she sat up on her elbows, and her head spun when Petunia forcefully pulled the porcupine up from the tiled floor. "Are you okay, Flaky?" Petunia asked. Flaky whimpered tiredly and held her head in her hands. She must have hit her head on the floor when she fell. "What happened. Flippy…!"

"I hit him," Petunia said blankly. She sighed, throwing he pan onto a nearby table. She was wearing an old outfit, the one she'd gotten from Giggles's mother, who Flaky realized wasn't in the room. As the skunk rubbed her neck and looked around, Flaky ran up to Giggles and Cuddles. Sniffles was sighing through his jaw, rubbing his eyes and his body had slumped further than Flaky ever thought possible for the uptight anteater. "Giggles, what happened," Flaky asked as she approached. The chipmunk said, "It was horrible! It happened before anyone knew what was going on!"

"What happened?"

"Flippy was asleep," Cuddles said, "when we took Splendid upstairs. We figured he should go in the heavy ward a soon as possible, since he was so sick. Russell was still down here and he was going to talk to Sniffles about how they got here and about Splendid. Giggles and I were dragging Splendid into the room when the squirrel woke up, spazzed out and shot lasers from his eyes!

"Well, the lasers bounced off a mirror and vaporized the leg of Flippy's hospital bed and then pretty much blew up. The bear woke up screaming like he'd been caught by the reaper. I guess he had been having a pretty bad dream, because the second he realized he was awake, he flipped-out and turned into Evil."

"Did everyone get out?" Flaky asked, counting heads. "Did you make sure everyone got out?"

"How am I supposed to know who got out," Cuddles asked almost angrily. "I slit. Everyone did the second we realized he'd flipped-out. It doesn't take instinct to know when to run away from _that_."

"We're sorry Flaky," Giggles said. But Flaky wasn't listening; she'd counted everyone in the room and found four to be missing, not including Ms. Giggles.

"Where are Handy and the Mole? Lumpy and Nutty aren't here either."

"I think he got Lumpy," Lifty offered, sitting with his brother on the counter they'd previously been hiding behind. "In the hallway when everyone was running."

"Heard a girly scream and saw some blood spatter," Shifty added. The two of them nodded and then simultaneously began scratching their hands. It wasn't until then Sniffles realized everyone was intermingling. "Alright, everyone get back to your rooms. Now! Or else you'll get sick!"

"But we have to make sure everyone missing is still alive," Flaky interrupted. Sniffles gave her a look, but the porcupine didn't let up, though she did lower her ears a bit. "I mean, don't you think so?"

Sniffles looked around and sighed, then began calling for Handy and the Mole. Everyone else followed suit, including Flaky until she realized that Lifty and Shifty weren't moving.

Both raccoons were still sitting on the counter; Shifty had lifted his legs and set them on the surface, and Lifty was inspecting one of the feet. Flaky went over to them. "Is something wrong?"

"Twisted my ankle," Shifty told her simply, taking the opportunity to kick his brother in the nose with his good foot. Lifty muttered an 'ouch' and huffed at his brother but decided to say nothing. "No big deal."

"Are you sure?" Flaky asked. She began to feel her nurse-ly intentions surfacing. She gently shooed Lifty away and inspected the ankle herself. "It isn't twisted, it's broken. How'd you break it?"

"Saw Flippy all flipped-out, jumped from my bed and took some of it with me. Tried running and got caught in something. Next thing I knew couldn't stand by myself anymore."

"How did you get away?"

"I had to help him up. We barely got out of the hallway before Flippy started throwing plates." Lifty said this as if it was some kind of chore he'd been more than averse to doing. But there was a hint of relief in the raccoon's voice that made Flaky think otherwise. She felt skeptical – since when did either of the thieving raccoons turn back to save each other?

She didn't pursue her theory, but only told them to go to Sniffles and get his ankle properly attended to.

And when Flaky heard a scream coming from the second floor of the building, she supposed the next thing she should do was go and investigate. She, Petunia, Giggles, and Cuddles quickly ran towards the stairs to see what the issue was.

In the hallway that led to the stairs, there was a broom closet by each room. One of the doors to the closets slowly creaked open. Flaky paused as the others went on, squinting her eyes to try and see who it was. "Who is that?"

"It's just me," came Handy's voice. He opened the door wider and stepped out, looking up and down the hallway. "Is Flippy…?"

Flaky nodded. The beaver let out a heavy sigh and looked over his shoulder. "Safe to come out now, Mole."

The mole stepped out from behind Handy and he did not look amused. He raised his walking stick only to jab Handy painfully in the chest with it. "One minute I'm sleeping, next thing I know there's a homicidal bear running rampant in the hospital. And _you _have the nerve to drag me out of my bed and into some godforsaken closet. There's no piece with you around."

"Calm down Mole. You're starting to sound like my grouchy grandmother. And stop poking me with that stupid cane!"

Flaky took a moment to stare in amusement as both adult males continued to squabble. It looked as if they'd done this more than once before, but the porcupine had never really seen the two of them together.

Remembering what awaited upstairs, Flaky sighed, bounded up the steps and ran to the door of the heavy ward. Giggles and Cuddles were standing at the doorway, too shocked to do anything other than stare. Flaky gently pushed the rabbit aside to talk a look for herself.

She hadn't failed to notice Lumpy's body as it lay in the middle of the hallway, and she'd had to tiptoe against the wall as to not touch any of the blood or the body. He'd gotten the top half of his head cut clean off by a plate – one's she'd left in the room after lunch. Remembering what Lifty said, she could imagine Evil as he held an armful of plates, expertly sliding them off of each other so that they cut through the air like spinning knives. She was actually surprised anyone else made it out so untouched.

Inside of the room was worse. Chairs and beds were knocked over; cups and plates were shattered, with dust from the glass covering nearly the entire floor. Burns from Splendid's renegade heat ray or whatever blossomed like black flowers on the wall and floor where it'd hit. Water was spilt, some buckets too, and the smell of wild fear still hung about in the room. Along with that and everything else, Flaky couldn't help but wrinkle her nose.

Petunia was standing midway in the room. Her fur had gone pale, her fists shook, and her mouth was set in a straight line as she stared down at Nutty's disfigured, bleeding, dead body. Flaky's hand went to her mouth. He'd been strapped in, unable to get away like the others…

"Oh my God…"

Flaky jumped and turned to see a disheveled Flippy staring at Nutty from over her shoulder. His eyes were wide, and his own fists were clenched; she couldn't imagine what he was feeling right now. Anger? Remorse? Stomach sickness?

"You killed Nutty!" Giggles and Cuddles whispered the accusation in unison, both staring at Flippy like they couldn't believe what had just happened.

"You bastard!"

Before anyone could react, Petunia promptly punched Flippy in the face.

* * *

The rest of the day went by quickly, and in a blur. Flaky and Giggles cleaned the heavy ward while everyone else took care of the downstairs and of disposing the three dead bodies.

Everyone was reluctant. They couldn't decide if they should just bury them like they usually did or if they should give them a proper funeral. They were all in doubt, wondering silently if their friends would ever return.

But eventually the work got done. The somber mood lightened a bit after everyone ate dinner, though some of the friends had to force themselves to go to sleep. Flippy himself was very reluctant to return upstairs with the others, but Flaky talked to him and eventually convinced the bear that everything would be fine. She gave him some sleep medicine and with a heavy sigh, dragged herself upstairs.

The day had been eventful – too eventful in Flaky's opinion. As the porcupine tugged off her nurse's gown and threw herself onto the white sheeted bed, she decided she wouldn't stare out the window for the next hour before going to sleep. She stubbornly laid on her stomach like she used to, before she had hair instead of quills, and turned to stare in the darkness. Giggles was already asleep; Flaky could tell because her breath was gentler than usual, and because Giggles tended to twitch in her sleep.

Flaky wasn't looking, but she could feel the icy moonlight as it touched her back, the fur on her head. Her unclothed arms, which she'd wrapped around her pillow in an effort to find comfort. With a sigh, Flaky shut her eyes and forced her breath to come slower and slower, deeper, and as darkness slowly welcomed her into its arms, Flaky tried to expel those three words from her head. They echoed and rumbled and replayed over and over in the silence.

_"I know you…"_


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter... surpised me. I mean, it just started out one way, but then I got rid of what I had and started it out in a completely different direction. But I think it worked. I just had to sacrifice some of your insight - the idea for the chapter was supposed to give you more of an idea of what was going on. But I decided to just leave it on another cliffhanger.**

**This chapter was interesting to write. I actually wrote Flaky's part first and all of Flippy's part at once, having started an hour or two ago. I just get so _into _it sometimes, y'know? For all you writers, you know what I mean. I didn't want to stop. **

**So, here you go - chapter 13. Think of it as your early Christmas present from me! It's funny, I was thinking of writing a FlippyXFlaky Christmas fic, but then I got uninspired (I might still do it, though, if I really feel like it).**

**You know what I've realized? I like writing origin stories. This one is kind of an idea of how Happy Tree Valley came to be, in a twisted and indirect sort of way. And I've got _another _HTF origin story idea stewing around in my head, having listened to some Gorillaz. I've also written a Pac-Man story (one chapter, but not really a one-shot) explaining how I think the Pac-Man universe works. Check it out if you like (I'd _love_ some reviews on it)**

**Alright. I'm sorry to bore you with my ramblings, but please please _please_ review on this chapter. I really need some honest opinions on what you think before I write the next one. Things are about to get serious. ;)**

**Merry Christmas! Or whatever you celebrate! Because I don't know specifically who reads my story and I'd like not to offend anyone... but anyways.**

**Happy holidays! (Now read and review, or I'll find you)**

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Chapter 13

Flippy was in the dark space again, hanging in the air like a ghost. He wriggled his limbs a bit but didn't move – the bear was trying to find solid ground to stand on.

Eventually his feet met the cool surface of the 'floor' and he took a moment to find his balance again. He wasn't surprised to find himself in this dream again, but something was different. He hadn't been subjected to watching his comrades fall before him again; he hadn't been forced to watch himself change into Evil, and massacre the enemy with a bloody grin on his face. Instead he was in the black space, feeling nothing yet at the same time blissfully unaware of any pain.

Flippy was unsettled by this. He wasn't used to the calmness of his dreams. There was never calm – there was only dirt and fire and gunshots and horrors and blood and screams and…

He held his hand against his chest to still his heart. Flippy was breathing deeply, quickly, and his breathe was hot and rancid. It curled around in the black air, the carbon dioxide floating like clouds of mist and then fading from view as if in slow motion. Flippy stared, eyebrows scrunched in cautiousness.

There was nothing around him. No landmarks, no other animals, not even the large, dark mirror so he could see Evil. Flippy was surprised that the idea of seeing his other half made him feel somewhat… safer. But he supposed anything – even Evil's company – was better than standing alone in nothingness.

The bear calmed his breathing and began to walk. It was interesting, because he kept feeling like he was going off course, because of course there was no way to tell which way he was going. Sometimes he even felt like he was walking upside down, and the thought disoriented him so badly that Flippy had to stop walking for a moment to steady his balance again.

Eventually though, after what seemed like too long a time, Flippy finally walked past a barely visible reflective surface. He halted just beside it, and was even more surprised (and disturbed) to find he could not see himself in the reflection. Instead he saw a battlefield. It was like a first person shooter game – the 'screen' kept moving in a way Flippy felt like he was seeing it all through someone's eyes.

It was a sparse forest, and the forest was on fire. Flaky could see his own arms and legs (though they were rather dirtied and ruffled, he thought it might be Evil), and in his hands was a brick from a nearby building, which had crumbled to the ground beneath the hungry tongues of fire. Flippy – or Evil – was standing before a huge upshot of flames, and Flippy could see just beyond the flames was a figure. Whoever it was was tall, gangly and bleeding, and they had a no weapons. The figure chuckled nervously, and Flippy himself thought that it sounded familiar. But whoever was in the glass growled, held up the rock and charged.

Rock met face, and rock one. Whoever the figure was screamed as half of his face was torn away against the rock. Evil (Flippy would just say it was Evil) growled in pleasure but spotted another opponent hiding behind a log. Flippy then saw why the bear was so angry – the other figure, female he supposed, was wearing the emblem of General Tiger. Her face was coated in the blood of her comrade, and she dropped the grenade she'd held in her hand, screaming as she stared into Evil's face.

Evil grinned, breathing heavily and turned to the man he'd just defaced (quite literally). Pulling out his bowie knife, Evil ripped open the poor animal's stomach, ripped out an intestine and turned back to the woman, who'd by then begun to get to her feet in an effort to flee. Evil threw the intestine over her head and pulled back, catching her by the neck. She hacked and struggled but Evil had his foot against her back and was pulling. Slowly, the woman faded to death.

As Flippy watched, he noticed that the sequence of deathly events was giving him a sense of déjà vu. There wasn't something right about this picture; something about the enemy, General Tiger's men and women. They weren't fighting back. They had weapons (the woman with the grenade and the woman he was chasing after now, who'd been holding a rifle) but they weren't trying to protect themselves. They only dropped their protection and ran. Something about that fact was making Flippy more and more uncomfortable, more and more guilty.

The last one, the woman, had run a little ways off and Evil had lost sight of her. He was looking down a mini-clearing in the trees, only a yard or two from the largest fire, next to the two dead bodies. He then saw another dead body among the others.

It was shaking. Whimpering. Flippy could almost see Evil grinning. The bear picked up the bulging carcass, turned and threw it into the fire. Screams followed, and the woman found she was trapped inside.

Flippy was shuddering. Those screams sounded very, _very_ familiar.

And then the scene changed. Again it was in a forest, and again Evil was in control. The forest itself seemed harmless enough, save for the heavily trotted earth, the bullet holes in the trees and the bits of ash falling through gaps in the canopy. There was rustling in the leaves and bushes, and Evil was attune to every sound and sight there was to sense.

Flippy saw most of this one in a blur, and it didn't last for too long. Evil snapped an enemy's neck – he'd been camouflaged against a tree, a trick he'd learned from Sneaky before the poor chameleon's death – and had then climbed up into the trees, crawling from branch to branch in search of prey. He'd spotted one – another female reminiscent to the one who'd hidden in the carcass.

Then something strange happened. Instead of attacking right away (Flippy saw Evil had a vine prepared and ready in his hands), the bear's vision seemed to waver. The tiger below him was no longer blue, but a shocking shade of red. She was also shorter, and her fur seemed to have become much spikier. Evil actually hesitated for a moment, wondering if his vision was impaired, but then the tiger was back to normal. Tall, blue, and completely unaware that death was above her.

Evil soon finished her off, dropping the vine about her neck and pulling her up again, effectively suffocating her hang-man style. But all the while Flippy could see Evil's vision wavering, and the tiger went from blue to red, tall to small, smooth to spiky. And then, at one point she wasn't a tiger at all.

She was Flaky.

Flippy's eyes widened to the size of saucers as he watched Flaky chocking, trying to rid herself of the deadly vine but dying much too quickly. Evil must have seen her as well, because the second she was dead he dropped the vine, hands shaking slightly. The bear let out a confused 'huh?' sound, but after another second she was a tiger again. She was lying on the ground, dead as ashes from above fell onto her body.

It was a thing after that. Every time Flippy watched Evil attacking someone, there would be flashes of reality. He would be killing someone and then he'd see them for who they really were – Petunia, Nutty, Lumpy. But none so much as Flaky.

The porcupine was _everywhere, _and it seemed the more and more Evil encountered her, the more the delusional bear kept seeing her for what she was. She even managed to break him from his rampage one time at the fair, her screams knocking Evil out of his zone, allowing Flippy to regain control.

Everywhere there was Flaky, and Evil was _seeing _her. Everywhere else he saw war, a war that had ended a _long _time ago. But when he looked at Flaky, he only saw her. Little, red, flaky Flaky.

Flippy was so absorbed by what he was seeing, so preoccupied by his new discovery that he didn't notice the blood at first, not until he started choking on it. The bear coughed and tiny drops of it splattered against the glass. Flippy gasped, coughed again and held a hand up to his mouth, feeling the blood as it pooled in his mouth, dripping out the sides like water escaping the lip of a glass. He spit on the ground but more blood kept coming, from his throat and from his nose, dripping into his mouth and choking him.

The pictures on the glass wavered, and then they were gone. Flippy finally saw Evil on the other side. But the bear was not hacking or choking like Flippy was. He seemed to be transfixed, still looking upwards to where Flippy had been watching. It occurred to the bear that Evil had been watching as well.

Evil was bleeding too. There was blood dripping down his chin, running through his fur all the way to his neck. But he wasn't reacting to it as Flippy was. He was standing, hands resting shakily against the glass, staring at where Flaky had been only seconds before.

It wasn't for a few more minutes that Evil's bright green eyes finally flickered, his gaze going to Flippy and locking onto the struggling bear. Flippy was too busy trying not to choke on his own blood to register that Evil wasn't following his every move. Not even a bit. He seemed completely independent in that department.

Suddenly he was scowling. Growling. Evil pulled back a fist and slammed it against the glass.

This brought on an _incredibly painful _shock to Flippy's brain, the worse migraine he'd ever felt. It hurt so badly that Flippy let out a horse cry, somewhere between a choked sob and a weak scream, falling to his knees and cradling his pounding head. All there was was ringing, and he felt more of the warm liquid crawling from his ears.

Flippy looked up, still struggling to breath against the endless wave of blood and saw Evil's ears were bleeding as well. The ragged bear's eye was twitching and Flippy realized that Evil was feeling the pain as well. But regardless, he continued to pound against the glass, bringing more and more pain with each impact. Flippy writhed beneath the crushing sting, grunting and growling and choking in agony against Evil's anger. The other bear, with each hit, fell more against the glass, sliding inch by inch to his knees – he glared powerfully at Flippy and all the bear could do was stare and wait for the pain to end.

Evil pulled back, the glass cracked beneath the power of his hit. More pain, stronger than anything Flippy had ever felt, agonizing and blindingly hot. He threw his head back and screamed.

Evil screamed with him. And then he pulled back his fist and struck.

This time, the glass shattered.

Flaky awoke to screams. Which actually wasn't too much of a surprise, for she'd woken up to such circumstances before during the past few weeks – her friends would wake up from nightmares or their minds would trick them into seeing something scary was in the room or they'd forget their memories. Waking up in a random hospital with sickies lying all around you wasn't the best way to wake up, Flaky supposed. But there was something different about these screams. They were louder, and it was hard to explain but Flaky thought they sounded less like fright and more like shock, astonishment. She could hear it in the tone of their voices, the volume. Flaky thought she could also hear another, deeper voice among the screams, shouting what sounded like commands.

Flaky listened, but for a decided not to move right then. She was concerned for her friends, but having just woken up the feeling was detached. The sequence of her dream was still fresh in her memory, and she wanted to replay it as many times as possible so she wouldn't forget.

It had been a very odd dream. Flaky couldn't remember many details, but even the things that she did recall made little to no sense. There had been voices, dark hallways, and glowing specs of what seemed to be sand…? Everything was foggy and jumbled and in no specific order – Flaky eventually groaned in frustration and gave up on trying to organize her thoughts.

The screams. She'd been so absorbed in her dream that the porcupine had hardly registered the shouts. Rolling out of bed, her nurse-ly instincts kicked in and Flaky pulled her pajama's closer (another pair of Flippy's undershirt and trousers). The morning was very cold, colder than usual but the fact didn't really register with Flaky as she sped down the hallway to the first flight of stairs. Her progress was hurried as panic finally began to set in, and Flaky had to save herself from tripping over her own stumbling feet several times.

As Flaky finally approached the door to the heavy ward, she saw that everyone else was already assembled around the door. Sniffles and Ms. Giggles, Mime, Pop and Cub, Handy, Disco Bear and Giggles were standing around the door, leaning in but seemingly too afraid to open it. Sniffles had his hand on the knob, but made no move to see what was going on inside.

For a second Flaky only stood – she too was paralyzed at the speculation of what was beyond the door. But a sudden anger flared. How could they _not _be doing anything to help? They had all faced far worse so far, and whatever was going on surly couldn't be as bad as what they'd already endured. Flaky huffed, braced herself and pushed her way thought the packed line of animals, pushing Sniffles aside and pushing the door open.

Everything froze.


	14. Chapter 14

**I. Hate. This chapter. **

**I'm just so upset. I mean, this it she chapter I've been wanting to write for _a while_. But I really don't like how it turned out. It doesn't help that this one is freakin' important. I don't like the ending,either. And I _knew_ how I wanted it to go, like, two weeks ago. It was going to be great...**

***Sigh* **

**I guess that's what I get for putting it off. Moral of the story: Don't Procrastinate! **

**Read and Review, and give me advice on how to make it better. This chapter is definitely going to be re-done when I go over the story. Also, if you have any questions, just ask in the comments or message me - I'll be happy to answer you.**

**Thank you, and I hope I don't disappoint anybody...**

**Happy New Years!**

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Chapter 14

Blood. That was the first thing Flaky registered. It was darkening Flippy's fur, staining the sheets and pooling on the tile floor. She could see it streaming from his mouth as he coughed, and dripping from his ears. The green bear was growling, but couldn't move from his position. The coughs made him shudder – he lost his grip on the side of the bed and his left side slammed down, causing Flippy to grunt in pain.

Though the sight deeply concerned Flaky, even scared her, it wasn't what held everyone's attention. It was the knife at Flippy's throat that made everyone freeze. It was also _who _was holding the knife.

"Don't move!" He shouted, pointing a clawed hand, sweeping it around the room. For some reason he hadn't seemed to notice Flaky as she burst into the room, and the porcupine stayed completely still as Evil's wild gaze flickered to and fro in the room. His eyes landed on Petunia, who was scrunched up against the back of her bed, gripping tightly onto the edges. "You, Skunky! Where are we?"

Petunia froze, opened her mouth but nothing came out. Licking her lips, she tried again but still she said nothing. Flaky was worried for her friend, but didn't think that her inability to speak was because of fear. Petunia's hands were griping her bed tightly, jaw clenched, and her eyes sparkled with anger. Evil growled but ignored here, turning back to Flippy, who was still writhing carefully beneath the bowie knife.

"Who are _you _supposed to be?" Evil snarled angrily, applying pressure to the knife. Flaky flinched as she saw a thin trail of blood run down Flippy's neck. She had to do something quickly or else Flippy would be killed.

"I – I'm you," Flippy managed to say, almost choking on his own words. Flaky saw that, like Flippy, Evil was bleeding, but it wasn't as badly. Some bloodstains marked the sides of his mouth, and a few drops fell from his ear, but he was otherwise fine.

Evil snarled, grabbing onto Flippy's head fur and bashing the bear's head into the bed. "¡Cállate! You're an imposter. I be you're one of General Tiger's men!" Evil spit out the name like poison, and pulled his knife back, aiming for Flippy's throat.

"No! Stop!" Flaky screamed without thought. She stepped into the room, ignoring Sniffles as he called for her to stay by the door. Flaky glanced around at all of the other friends. Lifty and Shifty were on a single bed, with Lifty standing over his brother protectively and Shifty sitting up, glaring apprehensively at Evil. Petunia was by herself, but Lammy had stumbled from her bed and was standing beside Petunia, hands touching the skunk's shoulder. Lammy had abandoned Mr. Pickles, who sat on her bed, but she made no effort to go to him.

Cuddles was with the Mole, gently shaking his shoulder but getting no reacting (the Mole was _still _fast asleep, somehow). Cuddles glanced towards the door but stayed where he was. Flaky could hear Giggles whimpering as she stood beside Sniffles by the door.

Evil flinched, looked up and turned to glare at Flaky, only to blink in astonishment. Flaky was standing before Petunia's bed, and she felt something touch her hand. She jumped, looked back and saw Petunia's foot. The skunk herself was shaking her head, mouthing something that looked a lot like 'What in the _hell _do you think you're doing?'. But Flaky didn't move, and when she turned away again Evil was already moving towards her.

"It's _you_," he said, his rough voice sounding almost like a purr as the rustled bear pushed Flippy off of the bed, ignoring the other bear's gasp of surprise. Evil stood on the bed, jumped off and slowly made his way over to Flaky, knowing she was too shocked to move. The porcupine was shivering with fear and anticipation. She wasn't afraid of death, she found, which surprised her – something about Evil's actions made her doubt he would just murder her, at least right away.

Everyone was quiet and still as Evil stood before Flaky, head tilted just as it had been the day before, when Flippy had flipped-out. "Who are you? I know I know you – you're always a tiger but then you're not."

"Huh?" Flaky couldn't help but be confused. "A tiger… I-I don't k-know w-what…"

"Shh!" Evil commanded, and Flaky stopped talking. She squeaked when he grabbed hold of her shoulder with his free hand, but stayed still. Evil turned and said, "Hey, imposter me – who is this chica?"

Flippy had crawled back onto his bed and was wiping the blood from his lips. "She's Flaky," he said to Evil, glaring protectively. Evil raised an eyebrow and turned back to Flaky. "¿Está loca? She looks pretty sane to me."

Lammy made a confused sound, and Flippy rolled his eyes. "Not flaky like _that_. Her_ name_ is Flaky."

"Oh…" Evil looked at Flaky. "That's a weird name." Then, as if remembering his anger, Evil snarled and pointed his knife at Flaky, causing the female to scream. "Where am I? Why is there a look-a-like of me and who are you?"

"Calm down!" Flippy shouted, stumbling over the bed in a hurry, afraid he would hurt Flaky. "I'm not a spy or anything. This isn't the W.A.R!"

"What do you mean it's not the W.A.R?" Evil scoffed and pulled Flaky closer, making sure to keep the knife close. The porcupine whimpered, but otherwise kept surprisingly calm, at least for her. She tilted her head back to see Sniffles bend over and slowly pick up a bucket they'd used for Nutty. Her eyes widened and she wanted to shake her head at him but couldn't with the knife against her neck. "I've been fighting General Tiger's grunts for months now!" Evil huffed and shook Flaky. "Who _is _this?"

"I told you, that is Flaky!" Flippy growled. "Leave her alone. She hasn't done anything!"

"Why do I see her in my dreams?" Evil said. "She's always a tiger but then she's not! Is she working for Tiger?"

"No!" Flippy was standing now. His legs were wobbling and more than once he slipped on the blood coating the floor. "This is all a big misunderstanding –"

"And _you_." Evil growled. "I always see you! Who are you, and why do you look like me?"

"You_ are_ me," Flippy said, steadying himself on Nutty's vacated bed. "Or at least, you _were_, but then you came out." He was standing close to Evil and Flaky now, and Flaky could see the blood on his shirt and fur clearly; she was close enough to smell it too, and it made her feel nauseous. Evil took a step back, dragging Flaky along with him. "¡Auséntese! You're the flaky one," Evil snarled.

A shadow fell before Evil and Flaky, and before either could turn something came down and collided with Evil's skull. Flaky screamed as the bear cursed, then fell limply to the ground. Flaky fell to the floor and scooted away from Evil's unconscious body. Sniffles stood above her, bucket in his claws, shaking in surprise.

"Good… job," Flippy muttered, staring down at his evil twin with a curious look on his face. The bear bent down and helped Flaky to stand, but immediately after Flaky began fussing over him. "Flippy, are you alright! I've lost so much blood – are you dizzy? What happened…?"

"I… I'm not sure," Flippy told her as the other Friends started moving. Sniffles called Cuddles over, ripping the rabbit away from his conversation with Giggles. He instructed Cuddles to grab hold of Evil's legs while the anteater lifted the bear's upper half. "We're taking him downstairs and tying him to a chair," Sniffles said somewhat shrewdly. "I don't even see how something like this is possible! Things are getting more and more out of control around here."

"I'll come down in a minute," Flippy said. "I can –" Coughs cut him off, and Flippy was pushed back to his bed by Flaky, who was already instructing Giggles to fetch her more water. The chipmunk hastily went away, and when Ms. Giggles asked what happened multiple voices began speaking. Sniffles – already halfway out the door with Evil in his claws – rolled his eyes and shouted, "One at a time!"

"We were all sleepin'," Lifty said, slowly kneeling back down on the bed, careful of Shifty's foot. "And all of a sudden we heard Flippy scream. When Shifty and I woke up, Evil was wrestling with Flippy over the bowie knife, but Flippy was too weak to overpower the psycho."

"He started shouting things like 'where the hell am I' and 'what hospital is this' and 'which side are you all on'," Shifty continued. "He was kumfumbled. He thought we'd kidnapped him and were all working for the General Panther dude."

"Tiger," Flippy said absentmindedly, allowing Flaky to wet a rag and rub the blood off of his face. He felt tired, weak. Flaky was already arranging for Cuddles to bring him a clean change of clothes when he got back but paused as she was rubbing the red liquid from Flippy's cheek. "Um… kumfumbled?"

"It's a word," Shifty said defensively. Petunia rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. The only way you would use a three syllable word effectively in a sentence would be to make one up."

"Shut it, _skunky_," Lifty snapped, tail twitching in anger.

Petunia's own tail began to twitch irritably, but before an argument could break out Lammy spoke. "Hey, was I the only one who noticed Evil was speaking Spanish and had an accent?"

* * *

"He's been in there for a while."

"Don't worry Flaky, Evil's duck taped to the chair. He won't be able to hurt Flippy."

"I know, but it's been an hour. Don't you think they'd be done by now?"

"Just… sit down, Flaky. Have a drink or something – it's been a long day for everyone."

The porcupine sighed and sat down at a kitchen table, allowing Sniffles to bring her out some water. It had taken a while to get everything back in order, to make sure everyone was safe and sound before leaving them again. Flaky sighed shakily and rubbed her eyes. It was as Sniffles had said – things really _were _getting worse as the days went by.

Flaky thanked Sniffles for the drink, but didn't attempt to sip. She was tired, having been yanked from sleep and pulled into the chaos of reality. There was wet, drying blood dotting her shirt and worry weighed her heart. There had been so much blood… all coming from Flippy. What if she hadn't been able to help in time? Sometimes Flaky doubted she could protect Flippy as he always tried to protect her.

Sniffles sat across from her, arms drooping, his back sliding against the chair in a slouched manner that didn't fit him. His eyes were closed, and Flaky took her chance to scrutinize him again. He was even worse than yesterday; the bags beneath his eyes had gotten worse from more insomniac nights slaving over microscopes and test tubes. His breathing was rough. Flaky saw his hands were shaking slightly, and it occurred to her for the first time how hard it must be handling all of that small, delicate equipment with such huge claws. Flaky sighed sadly. She _liked _Sniffles and hated that he was doing this to himself.

Flaky pushed her drink across the table, grabbed hold of her chair and moved it over so that she was sitting beside Sniffles. Before the anteater could argue, she grabbed hold of his arm and leaned on him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you have to work so hard," Flaky whispered to him, hoping that this wasn't too uncomfortable. It did cause him to sit up straighter, but other than that Sniffles seemed content, even at ease with Flaky's soothing voice. "I wish you didn't have to."

"Thanks, Flaky," Sniffles said to her quietly. Feeling somewhat accomplished, Flaky sat up but kept her arms wrapped around Sniffles's. She gave him a shy smile and said, "Do you want anything to eat? Giggles never made any breakfast."

"I – I'm…" Sniffles paused. Flaky guessed he'd been about to deny himself food, but his stomach interrupted him loudly. Flaky giggled at Sniffles's blush and pushed the glass of water over to him. "Eggs and toast?"

"With cherry jam, please?" he added. Flaky nodded kindly and set off to work.

Thirty minutes later, after she and Sniffles had finished their private breakfast, Flippy finally exited Sniffles's room. He rubbed his knuckles against his forehead, but otherwise seemed calm. Flaky put her plate in the sink and scurried over to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"And how is Evil?" Sniffles asked, taking another gulp of water. Flippy and Flaky sat down at the table. "He's… thinking things over," Flippy told the anteater. He sighed and then leaned back in his chair. "I don't blame him. After how long it took me to explain and re-explain things to him, I started confusing myself, to be honest."

"What did he think?" Flaky asked. "I – I mean, why did he think he knew me and why did he think he was the real Flippy and not you?"

"It's… complicated," Flippy said softly. "To him, it's like the war never ended, and reality is the dream. For a while he kept thinking this was all a dream. But after I explained to him how things really were – how he was… created, about my PTDS, and about you guys – he began to understand, if only a little bit."

"And he's okay with how things are?" Flaky asked, resting her hands on the table and debating on whether or not to put Sniffles's dish in the sink right now. After second thought, she reached over, took the plate and cup and stood to go put them away. As her back was turned, Flippy chuckled nervously. "You know, he actually talked about you, too, Flaky."

Flaky paused, her hand hovering over the faucet handle. "Me?"

"Yeah." Flippy rubbed his neck, frowned when he accidentally touched the cut, and then said, "He said he's seen you before, when he thinks he's still fighting in the war; sometimes in his dreams, too."

"Oh…" Flaky frowned, but a blush was growing too. "W-why… Why me?"

"I don't know." Flippy shrugged. "Maybe it's because sometimes you're able to keep me from flipping-out. I recognize you, so he does too."

"Maybe…"

"It's possible," Sniffles said, leaning back in his chair again before standing. "Is he safe to let loose? I want my room back, but not with some psychotic war veteran who doesn't know dream from reality."

Flippy thought, and after a second's hesitation he said, "Yeah, you can let him go. I think he'll be fine… as long as he stays with me."

"Okay." Sniffles started towards his room, but before opening the door Flippy said to Flaky, "He said he wanted to talk to you, Flaky."

Flaky frowned and then suddenly felt fear. "M-m-me? Wh-why?"

Flippy shrugged, but the worry on his face was enough to keep Flaky reluctant. "I-I don't th-thing th-that's such a g-good idea…" Flaky sighed, saddened that her stuttering had returned. She wondered to herself why talking to Evil would be such a bad thing. But for some reason the very thought of it made her edgy.

"Alright…" Flippy stood up, started towards Sniffles, but then paused and turned around. "You know, you're going to have to talk to him sometime, no matter how much I dislike the idea."

Flaky didn't say anything, but nodded to Flippy, understanding. They both understood, even if the others didn't, that the reason Evil had split from Flippy was because of her.


	15. Chapter 15

**Dude. I am so boss.**

**I love this chapter, and it's almost 4,000 words. Sometimes... sometimes I'm just so _awesome_. **

**It took me about... *checks watch* four and a half hours to write this, but it was pretty fun. I'm glad that last chapter didn't throw me out of my groove or anything. **

**Read, and if you don't review I'll get you! (And your little dog too!)**

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Chapter 15

The hallways were dark at night, but easily navigable with the columns of moonlight shining through the windows. In the touch of the silvery light, dust motes could be seen, lazily sailing from one end of the light to the other, sometimes getting caught in invisible waves of shifting currents and twirling, looping in the air. The night was calm and silent, except for two padding feet making their way down the dormant hallway.

The nights were long and frosty, he thought to himself, lying uncomfortably in a rather comfortable bed. He still wasn't used to the softness of hospital sheets, having grown rather used to sleeping in trenches, bunched up against his comrades in times of confined quarters, whether they wanted to or not. He'd spent too many _seemingly _endless nights trying to stay alive than actual nights which were silent and truly endless. It was too dark, too quiet, too calm for him and Evil couldn't bring himself to fall asleep in the security, which unnerved him into distrust.

Evil forced himself to shut his eyes. He'd been thinking about things, what had happened and what was to be. He'd been thinking for the past two days. Things were strange, different, _bright_ in this new world and Evil wondered how Flippy could stand the sickly sweetness of it. He'd observed the other patients in their beds, and their carefree attitudes, despite their apparently horrid illness was in its own way disturbing.

In Evil's initial shock to interacting with the 'real world' for the first time, he'd neglected to notice some very important things about his body. He was glad to see that everything still worked the same, though he'd have to test one important aspect, he thought with an impish grin.

Flippy hadn't said too much in the last two days, having decided Evil would want to think things over for himself before the saner of the two bears got to explaining again. Half of Evil was thankful for the silence. He was quite intimidated by the thought of having Flippy explain anything to him again (it went so _smoothly_ the last time). Hell knew that he didn't need to be driven mad by the complexity and confusion produced by Flippy's 'explanation'. There was something, though, that Evil did want to hear. Over the past few days, the more he'd been thinking about it the more he wanted to know. Evil knew that when he saw that porcupine female in his 'dreams', it was always when he was killing her. But… how could that be? If he was watching reality, than how could she still be alive? He fully intended to get some sort of explanation from Flippy, but the bear was treading carefully. He was hiding something and Evil knew it.

A soft whimpering sound reached Evil's ears, and without opening his eyes he stuck his leg out and kicked Flippy in the back, unsettling the bear from his nightmare. Flippy grunted, but didn't awaken; he rolled onto his other side and quickly settled back to sleep again. Evil rolled his eyes, though they were closed. What did Flippy have to dream bad dreams about? It wasn't like Evil was giving him nightmares anymore.

Evil thought these thoughts sourly. _He_ should be the one tossing and turning in his bed. He'd been the one living in some false world in someone else's head, fighting a war that had apparently ended _years_ ago. It wasn't a secret, even from Evil himself, that the bear had always loved fighting; killing, to be precise. But that didn't mean he didn't feel as if his life had been wasted. He had been killing, yes, but it was for an actual cause. General Tiger (the name made Evil growl deeply in his throat) was a menace, and had to be stopped. Evil was just glad his first memory of existence was when he'd slaughtered General Tiger and all of his men.

But what was there to do now that there was no one to kill? Evil could feel the craving, the itch for his fingers to wrap around his knife, a gun maybe, and shoot someone down. He imagined a tiger running from him on the field, and him running after it, knife in hand. It was poised, glinting harsh sunlight from its smooth, dotted surface as Evil caught up to the fleeing tiger. They turned, stared in horror as Evil grinned, pulling the knife and –

A sound jolted Evil awake. He hadn't even realized he'd drifted off, having been distracted with the thoughts of such pleasant events. He was rather displeased, though, at having been awoken in such a un-soldier-like way.

Maybe all of my reflexes were just a dream too, Evil thought bitterly, and blinked, keeping one eye closed and the other opened as he waited to see who'd entered the wing.

It was her. Evil deeply inhaled and tried to keep still so she wouldn't see he was awake. Slowly, like a wisp of snow, she walked over to Flippy's bed. Evil had been stationed right beside Flippy and was using one that was vacant from the other side of the room. Evil thought someone might have been using it before, because the mattress smelled like musk and dirt.

She reached Flippy's bed, and after glancing over at Evil, reached a hand from beneath the white blanket she had draped about herself. At her touch Flippy awoke almost immediately. He withheld a cough, but managed to sit up, whispering to Flaky in a low voice. Evil didn't try to listen, but Flaky's words were higher, hard to ignore as she whispered.

"It's time for your medicine," she said to the bear, revealing a glass of water beneath the blanket. She set it down on the table and handed Flippy three small white pills. "Sniffles says you'll need to take them once very nine hours, to help with the throat and sinuses. He wants to check your ears in the morning."

"Thank you, Flaky."

"You're welcome, Flippy."

Evil frowned. They spoke each other's names in such a familiar manner. He couldn't help but suspect… But that female, Flaky, she seemed so… timid. Flippy was never one for timid girls. Or was that just him? It was hard to tell if his feelings and preferences were his own anymore.

Flippy took the pills and then settled back down – Flaky sat beside his bed until he fell back to sleep. She was sitting with her back to the wall so that her entire left side was visible to Evil besides her waist and legs. The porcupine's dark red fur contrasted sharply against the white of her shirt and blanket. Evil watched and listened as she sat in the silence, listening to Flippy's steady breathing. She tilted her head toward the window. There hadn't been one when Evil arrived, but Sniffles had Handy put one in for the Heavy ward a day ago. The anteater said they were using too much electricity to keep the room lit (because apparently the nights were getting longer). It was a misshapen window but had a certain charm to it, said one very sarcastic raccoon. Evil still wasn't so sure which was the shifter and which was the lifter.

The moonlight touched her with soft, hesitant fingers, and Evil almost scowled. He was _not _one for poetic description, but this female seemed to acquire a different eye. The light from outside outlined her face, giving her an ethereal glow much like a ghost. But her eyes were fogged with sadness and worry. It was beautiful, yet at the same time eerie.

Without thinking, Evil opened his eyes fully, rested on his elbow and quietly said, "¿Son una ángel o una fantasma...?"

Flaky jumped, hopping from her seat and stared at Evil with wide, scared eyes. The look in her eyes made Evil angry, but he tried to understand – if he _had _killed her before, than he supposed she had every right to fear him.

They were in silence for a few moments, with Flaky debating whether or not to fight or flee and Evil having every intention to keep her in the room for as long as possible. The bear blinked, and Flaky hesitantly lowered her arms, which she'd raised in instinctual defense.

"What time is it…?" Evil whispered softly to her, fearing that even the slightest noise would frighten her. The porcupine forced herself not to flinch and said just as quietly, "Around seven in the morning."

"Hm." Evil sat up slowly, still staring at Flaky, and then scratched a cut on his right ear. Flaky watched but didn't move. Truthfully, she wanted to get over this somewhat irrational fear she had of Evil right then and there. It really wasn't fair, especially when he wanted to talk to her (to apologize, she guessed, or at least understand). And he didn't act as if he was dangerous. He'd been rather quiet the past two days, contemplating what had happened, scrunched up in the corner of the heavy ward like a lost child; to be perfectly honest, Flaky felt a little sorry for the bear. She wondered what it would be like to be ripped from your own reality, thrown into a whole different world, a world in which you weren't the original and all you'd been living was a complete lie, the memory of another's.

She took a step closer, but all of a sudden she got a kind of invisible itch at the back of her head. Flaky turned, stared at the door and then looked back at Evil. His eyes were dark, as if he knew what she was thinking, and Flaky felt guilty again. She didn't want to leave, really she didn't – half of her was quite willing to stay and try to converse with the raggedy bear. But the other half of her was still itching, and Flaky's ear twitched. She hadn't heard anything, but felt like she was about to. Evil noticed and cocked his own ear towards the door, glancing at it expectantly.

A sound from upstairs. Flaky looked up but began walking towards the door, no longer worried over Evil. She opened the door to the ward, but was halted in her travels by a blur of green. Flaky squeaked as she was knocked over by the wind, only to fall into the hands of a green-eyed bear. Evil quickly pushed her back to her feet – no time for awkward moments, not on his watch – and gently pushed her aside to lean out of the doorway. But there was nothing. Whatever had passed was gone, and by the sounds coming from beyond, Evil guessed it had gone towards the kitchen. There was the opening of a fridge, the clattering of things in drawers and cupboards. Evil could hear whatever it was ripping open bags, laughing in delight and gobbling something hungrily.

Flaky came up from behind Evil. "That sounds a lot like…"

Suddenly, thudding, and a huge blue figure came bumping down the stairs. Flaky screamed shortly, having caught sight of the figures huge, pointy antlers as they descended, eventually meeting the ground floor. Evil saw that it was a huge blue moose, which was now upside-down, his antlers caught in the ground so that his whole body was suspended in the air. The moose panicked and reached his arms out to the wall to steady his suspended body.

In another second, a second figure seemed to fly by, except this time it was light blue instead of green. Flaky gasped, finally recognizing what was happening and she stumbled out of the room. Evil watched with interest as she started after the flying object only to pause, look back at Evil and then call out, "Splendid! Splendid, come here!"

A wind blew by, and before Evil could blink there was some kind of squirrel standing before her. He tried not to smirk and roll his eyes when he saw the cape, the heroic pose that the squirrel – Splendid – struck as he stood before Flaky. Fists on hips, feet spread apart, head settled to one side as his cape fluttered from the wind he had produced. "Yes? Who is it that has called on _I¸ _Splendid?"

Flaky rolled her eyes and asked, "Splendid, you're alive? And so are Lumpy and Nutty?"

"Indeed, citizen," Splendid said politely enough, though the use of his 'hero voice' was beginning to pull on Evil's nerves. As if his ears didn't ache enough. "We awoke but a few hours ago, disoriented, for we knew not where we were. Eventually Nutty got _stir crazy _and burst from the room without the okay from Sniffles. I thought it my duty to follow him downstairs and secure him once more. I know how he is…"

"That was Nutty?" Flaky asked in disbelief. But only four days ago he was too weak to stand, let alone run around like that. I don't understand…" Another thought stuck Flaky. "Oh gosh! He's going to eat everything in the kitchen. Splendid, would you mind?"

"No problem," Splendid said, turning and flying into the kitchen. The sounds of fighting and screaming could be heard as Splendid dragged Nutty away from the food. Flaky sighed and turned to give Lumpy a look. The moose raised his eyebrows and tried to shrug. "Don' look at me, I didn't do nothin'…"

"What the hell is going on?" Both Evil and Flaky turned at Sniffles's voice, coming from the kitchen. The anteater must have walked in on Nutty and Splendid fighting. Flaky winced as she imagined Sniffles trying to stop it. She hurried over to the kitchen, but Evil stayed where he was, trying to think things over.

About thirty minutes later, Splendid managed to tie and gag Nutty with chains and had thrown the hyperactive squirrel over in the heavy ward. By then everyone had awoken. The blue female skunk was practically fawning over the Nutty, Evil noted, and he watched as a yellow rabbit with pink bunny slippers – Cuddles, Flippy had called him – went to go fetch a filer for Lumpy's antlers the second Flaky started urging him. The blue anteater, Sniffles, was standing at the doorway, leaning against it with a claw over his eyes. Flaky was standing beside him, whispering, concern etched on her face as Evil watched from afar. The anteater spoke back but did not remove the claw.

Flippy had awoken and was exiting the bathroom when Evil leaned over and said, "So, what's the deal with four-eyes over there? What's he exactly?"

Flippy sat on his bed and looked over at Sniffles. "He's kind of our doctor."

"Doctor? Kind of?"

"He's really smart and he has a lot of medical experience," Flippy explained. "He's the one who's been giving us check-ups and medicine and all that good stuff."

"Ah. And the chica?"

"Flaky," Flippy said, giving Evil a look. The darker bear didn't seem intimidated. "Si, that's what I said. La chica?"

Flippy rolled his eyes and said, "She's been helping him out around the hospital with all of us. She's kind of like a nurse."

"Ah," Evil said again, nodding. The room was still dark, no one had turned the light on, but everyone was comfortable with just the moonlight from outside.

"I still don't understand…" Sniffles muttered to Flaky, who stood by his side, hands folded. The porcupine shrugged and put her hand on Sniffles's shoulder, saying, "I don't either. But it seems like a good thing – Nutty's better! And so is Splendid, and they were two of the worst."

"But it took three days for them to return," Sniffles said. "The period of rebirth has never been so elongated. It concerns me. I'm beginning to consider… that there isn't anything typical about this illness."

"Don't worry about it," Flaky insisted. She was eager to find a reason, any reason, for Sniffles to relax. "You shouldn't think too hard about it, especially… especially if there isn't anything you can do about it."

"But there has to be something–"

"Sniffles." Flaky stood before the anteater and hesitantly crossed her arms. "Listen. You've been working too hard – much too hard, and don't try to tell me otherwise. I'm worried about you. And besides," Flaky gestured around her, at their friends who were talking, even smiling in the dim light of the moon. "Everyone's getting better. Nutty, Lumpy and Splendid are back – Nutty more sugar hungry than he ever has been, and Splendid has his powers back."

"Lumpy's still dumb as a doornail, though," Sniffles said. But there was humor in his voice, and Flaky smiled at him. "See? Things are getting better. Ever since Evil came, Flippy's been better too. And even Petunia – you know, she hasn't even asked me to change her sheets every day. She waited a whole day before asking."

"Really…?" Sniffles sounded happy, hopeful, but there was a peculiar look on his face. Flaky frowned, but before she could go on trying to convince him things were going to be fine, Handy walked up from the stairway. Sniffles frowned, but Handy spoke, "Now, before you get angry with me Sniffles, lemme just tell you that the boys upstairs were the ones who sent me. They wanted to know what it was that tore through the upstairs hallway and woke us all up."

Handy was halfway in the room and finally noticed the three people who had been dead only a few hours ago. "Hey, it's Nutty! And Splendid and Lumpy! When did they get here?"

"This morning," Flaky told him, "a few hours ago. And they're perfectly fine, too! Besides a bit of coughing, they're their regular old selves."

"Well that's great…" Handy said. "I'm glad they're back. I was worried they were gone for good. But it sure did take them a while, didn't it?"

Flaky frowned at the orange beaver, but movement caught her attention. She, Sniffles and Handy looked over to see the Mole, who was stirring for the first time since Flaky had first entered the ward. He sighed, his silky purple pajamas whispering as he sat up and stretched, feeling for his cane. It had surprised Flaky the first night they stayed, because she learned that the Mole always wore his shades, even when he was asleep. She supposed he could risk it – he had more than one pair. The mole, however, paused in his search for the cane and grunted in distaste, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses.

But when the Mole removed his hand, his eyebrows rose above the edge of his shades, and Flaky was astonished to see the mole looking around, as if he was actually _looking _around. "Sniffles," the purple mole called suddenly, his voice urgent but calm at the same time. Sniffles quickly went over to the Mole, and Flaky's breath stopped when the Mole seemed to follow Sniffles's movements, turning his head. Handy, who stood beside her, was speechless as well. By then everyone in the room was watching with curiosity. "What is it Mole?"

"I see… shapes…"

"Shapes?"

The purple mole nodded. Sniffles removed the Mole's shades to inspect his eyes, but the mole winched, hissed and tried snatching them back. Much to everyone's surprise, he succeeded. Handy gasped and walked over to Sniffles, both of them staring at the Mole with wonder. The Mole himself was intrigued by his own reaction, and carefully, slowly began to open his violet eyes one by one. It was agonizingly slow, for he kept wincing against the moonlight and closing his eyes again. Handy frowned, took hold of the Mole's shoulders and turned him so that he was facing Handy and his back was to the moonlight. The mole opened one eye, held it, blinked and then opened his other one.

The process repeated a few times before he was finally able to open both eyes and keep them open. Flaky stared in wonder. She'd actually seen the Mole's eyes once before, and they hadn't been such a brilliant color purple. Before they had been a dusty, foggy sort of purple, more blue than anything else. But now they shone like amethysts, sparkling though they didn't face the light.

The mole blinked, stared and then leaned forward to inspect Handy's face. The braver kept completely still. Flaky could see out of the corner of her eye Evil lean over and whisper something into Flippy's ear. Flippy frowned and then whispered harshly back, only to have Evil chuckle in response.

"You… can see me?" Handy asked, almost hesitantly, and Flaky thought maybe a bit fearfully. The Mole leaned back and said, his voice its regular deep, smooth self, "You aren't _half _as ugly as I thought you were. I'd go as far as saying you aren't ugly at all." Ignoring Handy's astonished face, the Mole looked down and spotted Handy's hands – or rather lack thereof. "And you really _don't _have hands. Hm. All this time I thought it was just a gag or something. You fix things so well, among accomplishing _other_ things. I'm surprised you can do half of the stuff you do without them."

"What do you mean not as ugly as you thought," Handy said eventually, recovering from shock. Flaky and Sniffles exchanged a look, but the situation was quickly becoming quite amusing. Even Flippy, who usually kept out of other's quarrels, leaned forward a bit. Whether it was from Evil, who leaned eagerly over his shoulder or not Flaky wasn't sure.

"Well, what with me being blind, I had to assume," the Mole said. "I mean, usually when one is blind, the other's taking advantage of–"

"Shhh!" Handy said angrily, putting a nub to the Mole's face, his face falling into its familiar scowl of frustration. "We'll… talk about that later."

"Talk about it now," Evil called from the back, and as Flippy gently hit his identical other on the head, Evil muttering angry curses in Spanish, Flaky couldn't help but laugh.

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**Review. Review. Gogogogogo!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hola friends. Sorry for the long wait; here's chatper 16 of Blissfully Ill. And I, sadly, have a confession to make.**

**mimic12455, congratulations. You've found me out. +10 Internet Points for you.**

**For those of you who haven't noticed, Toothy dropped off the face of my story around chapter six. I didn't mean to! Toothy is actually one of my favorite characters, which is strange, since I didn't notice his absence before. I'd gone back to referance the list of where each Friend had been placed (light, medium, heavy) and that was when I noticed Toothy wasn't on the list. I'd forgotten to include him, which is why I forgot to bring him back. I'm so sorry! I honestly didn't notice until I saw it, and now I'm in a delema.**

**I'm wondering if I should just keep him out or put him back in, but neither of those would really work. Maybe I could make it... that's an idea. But we'll just have to see, won't we?**

**For now, enjoy. Please Review. This chapter is wishy-washy, so I don't know if it's good or what. It's not too long but not too short either. I think it's confusing, but... y'know. **

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Chapter 16

"Alright mi compadre, it's about time you told me what's going on."

"Uh, Evil, I don't think this is the best time…"

"Sure it is. We're alone, it's quiet, and the door is locked. Now spill."

"But a bathroom? Really, Evil, are you that despite to know what's going on?"

"I could lock us in the closet instead."

"Nah, this is good. I call the toilet."

"Fine. Tub for me then."

Flippy sighed heavily as he set himself down on the closed toilet seat, watching as his mirror self settled down in the long white tub, kicking his feet up to rest on the faucet. Flippy noticed when Evil first came, well, 'out' of his body, that they'd looked more or less alike, aside from their eyes. But as the days wore on, Evil's appearance began to change. His fur turned a darker shade of green, became more disorderly, and his canines had begun to grow and sharpen. He looked like he did when Flippy had still been having his 'flip-outs'. His claws were longer than Flippy's, and his eyes showed greater signs of fatigue, though they weren't all too noticeable. Aside from all that, they could have been twins – same height, same shape, same age.

"Talk," Evil growled, resting his hands behind his head. They both wore Flippy's clothes, though while Flippy wore the pants and white shirt, Evil was comfortable with pants and jacket only. The fur on his check poked out much like Flippy's and his stomach rose and fell with each of his breathes, outlining his rips and then hiding them beneath the skin and fur. Flippy rolled his neck on his shoulders and said, "Alright, fine. What do you want to know first?"

"I'm glad you asked," Evil said, sneering. Then his face became serious. "What's up with this town? Why haven't any of you left yet? I understand being in quarantine, but from what I understand you've all been here so long you can't even remember anymore. And why did that porcupine say that those three new guys have all been dead?" Evil's frown melted into a scowl. "You've been hiding something, Flippy, and I want to know what it is. Now."

"Alright…" Flippy said, feeling weak. He'd originally gone to the bathroom to puke, but after nothing happened, he'd begun to leave. Evil had ambushed him and locked the door before Flippy could register what was going on. The bear was beginning to feel nauseous again. "We live in Happy Tree Town, which is in Happy Tree Valley in Happy Tree Forest. Right now we're at the hospital-tree. This is where everyone is reborn after they've died."

"Uh-huh. Pase…"

Flippy didn't understand but took Evil's patient look as the okay to continue. "Well, here in Happy Tree Valley, we seem to have immortality. No one's really sure why it happens, but one thing is that no one minds it really. We have the ability to leave but no one chooses to. We don't know what would happen if we did… and then there's the idea of death. Everyone's so used to not dying that even the possibility of dying permanently is horrifying to us. We can't handle it."

"So none of you can die? Even if you do die, you come back?"

"Yeah. That's the jist of it. Not only that, but Happy Tree Valley has always seemed to be plagued with bad luck. There's not a week that goes by without someone death. We've gone day before, but I'm still not sure if at midnight counts or if it has to be after…"

"Imposible... I've never heard anything like it before."

"As for why we're all here and not in the town it's because this mysterious disease started out as something like a cold. We didn't want to spread it – Russel and Splendid weren't here yet, we didn't know they were sick too – so we all stayed here. Everyone was sick except for Cuddles, Giggles and Flaky, and I think the rabbit and the chipmunk might not be falling too far behind the rest of us. You've seen them. They're getting worse."

"So la puercoespín is the only one who isn't affected?"

Flippy nodded, resting his chin in his palms. It was good Flaky wasn't infected like the rest of them, but if Giggles and Cuddles really were falling ill, they would soon be too weak to help the porcupine out with chores. She would be alone, helping everyone in the ward. What was worse, Flippy suspected Sniffles was falling under the weather as well. He could tell by the anteater's short times in the open, his sluggish movements and his reluctance to see anyone anymore. Flaky was worried and so was he.

"The porcupine," Evil began after a moment of silence, sitting up straighter. At the sound of her name, Flippy's attention instantly redirected at Evil. The darker bear was looking directly at Flippy, his green eyes curious. "Why isn't she sick? And what's her problem?"

"We don't know why she's sick," Flippy stated simply. "And Flaky's a good friend of mine, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't suggest things like that."

"I'm not suggesting," Evil said back, his voice playful and dark. "I'm stating. Fact. It's something for everyone, isn't it? You with me, flipping-out; that not-so-blind mole; that OCD squirrel, and of course that sugar-crazed squirrel. And don't even get me started on that moose. Did someone drill a hole through his head and let whatever was once inside crawl out? I mean really, he slept upside-down and backwards last night."

Flippy winced at Evil's accuracy. "You've noticed all that?"

"Sure. The raccoons are kleps and the lamb is insane, what with her stupid pickle. Everyone, at least the one's trapped in here with us, have something going for them. _Flaky,_" Evil said the name slowly, as if tasting it, "hangs around here most. There must be something wrong with her if she hangs out with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Flippy asked, sitting up himself and trying to look intimidating. He didn't like where this was going, and he especially didn't like how interested Evil was in Flaky. He could see a glint in the other bear's eye, and it was a familiar sight. It made Flippy uneasy, cautious. "The only unique thing about Flaky is that she used to be very, very easy to scare," Flippy said plainly. "She's also necrophobic."

"¿Qué?"

"She's afraid of death."

"Hm, really? Seems a bit odd for someone who plays nurse."

"Shut up," Flippy said harshly. "And there's something else… I mean, she hasn't really been herself lately…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Evil asked, resting his arm on the edge of the tub and leaning forward.

"What I mean is that things have been changing," Flippy said. "I've been seeing it, but no one else really has, I don't think. Flaky might have."

"Might have notice _what?_" Evil asked, his tone indication that his patience was running thin. Flippy sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Everyone's changing. And in _good_ ways, which confuses me. Flaky hasn't been half as twitchy or scared as she used to be. Petunia's actually keeping her mouth shut about most things. Lammy's hasn't even spoken to Mr. Pickles the last few days. I think she actually put him on the table instead of sleeping with him last night."

"So? That's good, right? It means the disease is winding down."

"No, it doesn't. Even if the disease left tomorrow morning, everyone should have been back to their normal selves. Petunia should be obsessing about every little thing, the Mole should be _blind,_ and Lammy should be throwing Mr. Pickles at everyone and mauling whoever he touches. But things aren't right. It's like… the sickness is making everyone better."

They sat in silence. Flippy's words hung heavily in the bathroom. Flippy's eyes rolled as he sighed and leaned back, hand on his stomach. He was feeling nauseous again.

As the days wore on, Flaky became more and more anxious. It wasn't just the weather which bothered her anymore. She sensed something dark creeping up behind her, ready to pounce the second she was off guard. Something was wrong. It wasn't just the snow or the sun or the dead grass anymore. It was happening to her friends.

She'd noticed it two days after Nutty, Splendid and Lumpy had been reborn. All three of them had been just like their old selves. Splendid was helping Flaky with the normal chores, and she'd been grateful for his assistance. They'd had to tie Nutty down again. The squirrel had practically nested himself in the secret snack stash before Splendid could pry him away from the sweets, and the green rodent had writhed on his bed, crying and laughing as his craving for candy came back ten-fold. Lumpy, also, had returned to his old self. Dumb, slow, and bright as an unscrewed light bulb. He spoke more than he had before his death, but otherwise kept to himself.

One thing that Nutty, Lumpy and Splendid all had in common was they all remembered dreaming while they were dead, which was unheard of. Being reborn after death was much like being deeply asleep: you didn't remember the process and it was dreamless. All three males were vague in their description of their dreams, but some aspects were parallel, and Flaky grew interested.

A day went by, then two, then three more, and before Flaky knew it her newest assistant was horribly sick again. His powers had slowly diminished. He could barely sit up, let alone stand or fly. Flaky had to drag in a new bed for him.

Not only that, but the really strange things had begun to happen. Flaky had been seeing the pattern days after the Mole reclaimed his lost eyesight, but it wasn't for another four days that her hypothesis was tested.

Lammy had eaten Mr. Pickles, completely on purpose, and when she asked for another pickle, she ate that one too.

Needless to say, everyone was stunned.

The only time Lammy had ever eaten Mr. Pickles was on accident or when she was dreaming. She loved Mr. Pickles, or at least the idea of him, and Flaky hadn't seen a day when the lamb was without a green vegetable in her hand. Now Lammy looked so lost, out of place; it was like Mr. Pickles had never existed. What was more, the lamb wasn't having any more of her nightmares.

Petunia scared Flaky as well. The other day, she'd settled down to go to sleep and Flaky – she'd been delivering Flippy's pills – had noticed the skunk was lying on her right side, not her back like she always did. Flaky also saw that one cup of her water was empty and the other one was half full. As realization dawned on Flaky the following morning, the porcupine wasn't sure if she was happy or horrified at what was happening.

Everyone was getting better. Not really physically, but mentally and emotionally. The twins had stopped thieving, Petunia had stopped complaining, and the Mole could see again. Even Nutty was beginning to settle down. He spent less and less time fighting against his bonds and simply staring into space, sometimes even falling asleep. Petunia talked to him often, stroking his forehead and helping him cope whenever he was craving sugar. The green squirrel was given a piece of chocolate once a day, but that was only out of pity. Flaky couldn't stand the pleading look on his face.

Above all, Flaky was anxious about Evil. She wasn't afraid he would attack her or anything like that – he seemed completely in control of his own actions, and she had no reason to question his motives. Mostly Evil stayed close to Flippy, asking the other bear questions about him or her friends and the town.

You could tell Evil still wasn't used to living in Happy Tree Valley. He found their immortality strange and questionable, suspicious even, but chose to keep his mouth shut. Once or twice he tried talking to Flaky, but he'd gone about it the wrong way. He only approached her when they were alone or when the others weren't paying any attention, and Flaky never failed in finding a way to escape the discussion. There was just something about him that kept her on edge. It wasn't fear and it wasn't dislike. It was just… whenever she saw him coming, her instinct told her 'flight' instead of 'fight' and it truly upset Flaky that she didn't know why.

She wanted to talk to Evil, but her body didn't. Her body felt something towards Evil that Flaky hadn't experienced before and couldn't completely understand. Maybe it _was_ fear, just a different kind.

Flaky crawled into bed, sighed and curled herself into a red ball, closing her eyes and allowing the dreams and the nightmares to catch her as she fell.


	17. Chapter 17

**Bet you weren't expecting an update, huh?**

**I decided to go ahead and try to get back into the groove of things - I've been craving to write, so why not Blissfully Ill? I also have a few more ideas for what's going to happen later on, and everything's beginning to tie in with itself. **

**I've been listening to Blue October and Joe Hisaishi for the past four hours, so that helped too.**

**For those of you who don't know, I've posted the first chapter of Stickers, a story which introduces my three OC's. If you haven't read it, you should.**

**And for those of you who _do_ know and have chosen not to read or review, I encourage you to do so. I really do want to know what you think of my OC's, because _I_ like them and I _will_ be using them in future AU stories. So tell me what you think of them. I only have one chapter up so far, but maybe a few reviews will encourage me to get the last two out faster. **

**And as for Blissfully Ill updates, well, they might be effected by your generosity as well.**

**I'm not saying you have to like my OC's - I don't mind if you dislike them or just plain hate them - but I want your honest opinions. And also, don't look at them as OC's. Try to think of them as regular HTF characters. **

**I'm wasting your time, I apologize. Please enjoy. **

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**Please read the Memo, if you haven't.**

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**Chapter 17**

And so days passed. They came and went quickly, and their contents were but a blur in Flaky's memory. She walked, talked, and did her duties as a nurse, but her mind was so far elsewhere that she could hardly remember any of it.

It's almost like I've become a zombie, Flaky thought, and she laughed dryly, without mirth. She'd allowed herself a break from work and had quickly escaped upstairs. Flaky sat on her bed, head in her hands as snowflakes from outside sprinkled from her cracked open window. The chill was sending shivers up and down Flaky's back, but as it numbed her fingers she – for the first time – felt grateful for its presence. She'd never found comfort in snow, but there was something soothing and reverent about its silence, how it was always so peaceful as the snow stilled all life.

Flaky found herself wising, for a moment, the world around her would stop completely. Maybe then she'd have some time to herself, some time to _think._ She hadn't been able to do so in three, maybe four days, it wasn't like she could remember now. Time didn't exist anymore. There weren't days or nights anymore. There was only one long, never-ending strip of existence and Flaky didn't see any way out.

A shudder ripped through the porcupine, and Flaky bit her lip, lying down on the covers. Oh, how she wished she could just curl up and go to sleep, sleep for hours, days even. She was just so tired, her muscles hurt, her head hurt. She was tired of smelling all of the chemicals and medication and cleaning supplies. Flaky didn't want to clean or serve or _help _anymore. Kicking her legs, Flaky inhaled shakily and buried her head in her pillow. She wanted to go home, she wanted everything to go back the way it was and she wanted everyone to be the way they were oh how Flaky wanted so desperately just to _go home…_

That morning Sniffles had collapsed. He'd been trudging up the stairs from his bedroom into the kitchen when it happened. He'd been sluggish and fatigue had drugged his awareness. Sniffles tripped himself up, and when the anteater realized he was on the floor, he found he couldn't get himself back up.

Flaky hadn't been there when it happened. She'd been trying to calm down Giggles and Lifty, who'd both fallen victim to temporary amnesia and didn't know where they were. The chipmunk was easy to calm down, she almost instantly accepted (or tolerated) what was being told to her and agreed with Flaky that if she went back to sleep all would be better when she woke up again. It was Lifty that frightened her. The raccoon hadn't suffered from any sort of memory loss beforehand, unlike most of the others, but he hadn't even recognized his own brother when Shifty tried to help him calm down.

He tried to hide it, but Flaky caught the look of desperation and hurt on Shifty's face when Lifty questioned who the fedora-wearing raccoon was. With dark eyes, Shifty sat with Lifty and calmly told him that they were twins and it would be best if the other got some sleep. Lifty seemed eager to comply, easily accepting that this other green raccoon was his brother and quickly fell back to sleep. Shifty didn't leave his spot on the bed.

It wasn't for another twenty or so minutes that Flaky found the downed anteater, and her heart had stopped for a moment, just a moment, as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen and spotted his still form on the blue tiles. She thought he'd collapsed from exhaustion. She'd feared he was dead.

Rushing over to him, Flaky immediately checked the anteater's heartbeat and found it. Sighing heavily in relief she rushed back to the heavy ward and, finding Evil was the only other able bodied animal in the hospital, called for his help in moving Sniffles to the light ward. Evil complied without trouble and once Flaky tucked Sniffles into bed and checked his condition, Evil had quietly left.

It isn't fair, it isn't fair! Flaky thought, hot tears wetting the pillow she held to her face. Evil didn't have to worry about Sniffles after his part was gone, he'd simply left. The bear didn't have to check for wounds and administer medication and make sure that not only was Sniffles comfortable but that Mime would keep a steady eye on him and he didn't have to rely on a mute to call for help if something went wrong. What did it matter to him if one of the others didn't make it out of this illness, if they lost their memories permanently?

He didn't have to think about what could have happened; how if Sniffles had fallen while going down the stairs or wandering outside, unattended.

Flaky knew she wasn't being fair or even rational. She was breaking, crumbling beneath the pressure. She couldn't help it; sobs were pushing against her eyes and throat and more tears spilled from her shut eyelids. She'd been doing so _well, _keeping her emotions under control and working with whatever the illness had thrown at her. With Sniffles's help and Flippy's encouragement, Flaky had been feeling optimistic, hoping the sickness would eventually be cured when Sniffles found the antidote.

But what was there now? Sniffles was incapacitated and cure or not, Flaky was _not_ going to let the anteater out of the ward. He hadn't been so bad at the beginning of all this, but overworking had drained him both physically and mentally and Flaky wasn't sure how much more abuse he could take from himself.

I should have made him stop, Flaky thought. I should have forced him to stop working and get some rest but I didn't and now look at him!

The sobs broke through and Flaky tried to cry into the pillow as quietly as possible. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair because now that Sniffles couldn't get out of bed, she would be the _only one_ who could help around here. Cuddles and Giggles had fallen to the unknown illness; Flaky had settled them both in the medium ward. Giggles's mother wasn't far behind. Now it would be Flaky who made every meal, Flaky who kept the hospital clean and her patients as comfortable and healthy as she could manage.

But what was she to do? What was she supposed to do all by herself? Frustration and hopelessness grew and Flaky whimpered, kicking her legs in sheer desperation. There was _nothing she could do. _Without Sniffles, there would be no antidote, if there was even one to be found. Her friends had gotten better, but now they were dying. It wasn't just symptoms of the illness anymore. They were dying, slowly but surely, and by the way they all looked at Flaky as she brought in their meals and did the routine check-ups, they were all beginning to realize the reality. It had taken nearly two days for Splendid, Lumpy and Nutty to return to them, and though they'd been fine after being reborn, they'd fallen back into the illness faster than before. Who was to say anyone would return at all the next time?

The absolute futility of the situation was beginning to drive Flaky insane. She couldn't even imagine what the following days would be like. Her friends would be suffering and all she'd be able to do was watch and try to make them comfortable. With no possible cure to hold her up, Flaky wasn't keeping them alive anymore. She was simply prolonging their deaths.

Flaky allowed herself a selfish wish: that she'd been one of those to fall ill and someone else was immune to the illness.

Time passed – an hour, it felt like – and Flaky had finally calmed down when someone knocked loudly on her door. The sound startled Flaky, who had nearly fallen asleep. She called for whoever it was to come in. Sitting up and whipping tears from her cheeks, Flaky's heart stopped when Mime slipped into the room. His purple face was etched with worry lines and the mime began making expressive gestures, but Flaky was in no mood to play charades.

"What is it? Is it Sniffles?" she demanded, standing up and making her way over to the deer. To her relief, Mime paused and then shook his head, saying no to her question about Sniffles. Flaky sighed happily and then said, "Well, what's wrong then?"

Mime was about to begin his explanation, raising his arms, when Flippy and Evil stepped into the room. Flaky was alarmed to see Flippy out of bed. It was difficult for him to stay awake let alone walk and the movement was probably giving him a massive headache. Flaky immediately told him so and was about to usher him out of the room when Evil put a hand on Flaky's arm. Before the porcupine could even blush at the contact, however, Evil said, "Flaky, something's wrong with the power or something. The heater isn't working anymore."

* * *

"Do you want me to hold the light?"

"No, I'm fine." It was a lie. Flaky's hands were shaking so bad that they could hardly see anything as they carefully descended down the shadowed stairway. The flashlight in her hand was shuddering worse than a leaf against a strong wind, and Evil was quickly becoming annoyed with Flaky's reluctance to give him the light. He could understand her stress – he wasn't oblivious to her rapid fall into semi-depression, and the news of the possibly nonoperational heater had nearly given her a heart attack – but there wasn't any reason for her to forgo his offers at help. It was quite irritating really; here was a woman who was overworked and stressed out of her mind yet she refused to allow others to share her burdens. If you asked Evil, it was a little selfish of the porcupine.

So, ignoring Flaky's surprised squeak and huff of averseness, Evil gently took the flashlight from her hand and pointed it downward. All of the power had gone out in the hospital-tree – Flaky hadn't noticed because she'd been distracted and she had enough light in the room from outside.

Evil had suggested they bring Handy along with them, in case the beaver would be able to fix the problem, but he'd fallen asleep in the heavy ward. The beaver, without permission, had dragged a chair into the ward, sat himself beside the Mole's bed and sat there, his crossed arms and hard expression daring anyone to ask him to move. Luckily no one did. Flaky honored Sniffles's opinions, but with things being the way they were, she didn't think letting wards intermingle was the worse of their problems anymore.

Which was why Flaky refused to bother the sleeping handyman. She said that if there was something wrong, they could wake Handy up later but the beaver had spent all night watching over everyone in the heavy ward for her (she'd been in desperate need of some sleep and Handy was an eager volentere) and he deserved some rest. Evil personally didn't think Handy had any reason to hang around the heavy ward, but a few theories were forming in his mind.

Besides, Evil thought, leading Flaky down the wooden steps, I've fixed enough broken stuff. I can turn the power back on.

_"Una inmensa y radiante playa y se enfrió la luna enjoyada_

_El tiempo ha llegado de nuevo_

_Bajo la luna_

_Elija ellos cantan los Antiguos"_

"Hm?"

Evil blinked and turned around, pointing the flashlight at the wall beside Flaky's face. She was giving him an inquisitive look. She had a blanket warapped around her, and Evil had put on an undershirt. The temperature had already begun to fall. "What?"

"What was that you just sang?" Flaky asked, tilting her head cutely – cutely? – to one side. Evil thought about her question. He hadn't even noticed he was singing.

"It's just a verse from a song," Evil said. "One of my army buddies taught me."

"A Spanish song?"

Evil turned and started down the stairs again, wondering if they were close to the bottom. "English. He knew it in Spanish, though. That's how I learned it."

"What does it mean?"

Evil paused to think, and then said:

_"A vast radiant beach and cooled jeweled moon_

_The time has come again_

_Under the moon_

_Choose they croon the Ancient Ones_

"It's all I can remember of the song," Evil said. To Flaky the tone of his voice was indifferent, almost sad. She decided to stay quiet for the rest of their decent.

Eventually they made it down to the bottom of the stairs. The basement was smaller than Flaky had imagined, with wires hanging on the walls in S's. Wooden boxes with holes chewed in the sides were stacked at the far end of one wall, and to Evil's right was the power box. Immediately, the bear went over and unlocked the white box (Flaky had given him the keys out of Sniffles's desk drawer) and opened it.

"Ah," Evil said, immediately spotting the problem. One of the wires had been bent, and another completely undone. Evil gave the flashlight to Flaky. "Hold it steady," he told her. Flaky nodded and watched as Evil unraveled the wires and put them back where they belonged. Flicking the switch off and on, the lights above them flashed, and then illuminated the room. Flaky smiled and turned off the flashlight as Evil closed the door of the power box. "That wasn't so bad," Flaky said, setting the flashlight down on the bottom step so she wouldn't forget it. Evil nodded, but there was a frown on his face.

"It wasn't too bad," he agreed, "but the damages to the wires seemed almost deliberate."

"What?" Flaky shook her head. "Everyone here is sick, besides you and me."

"I know. It wouldn't make sense anyway…"

"Is the heater back on, too?"

Evil shrugged. "I don't know. I fixed the power, but if there's a heater down here it wouldn't have helped any."

Flaky's ears drooped. "Yes, there is a heater. It's behind the stairs." Flaky stepped around Evil and pointed behind the stairs. There was a large heater, about her height, sticking out from the wall. It was slightly outdated but Flaky supposed it was because Happy Tree Valley had been around for so long. Usually the heater would grumble and emit heat from the mouth, but now it was silent.

Evil examined it. Flaky waited, sitting on one of the wooden boxes. After a few minutes of silence, Evil muttered something in Spanish and then cursed soon afterward. Flaky stood. "What's wrong?"

"Ice," Evil snarled. He pointed to the pipes that led from the heater into the higher floors. Many of them seemed to have burst open. Somehow, both were covered thickly in ice. Flaky gasped; she hadn't noticed it before, but not only were the two pipes on ice, but most of the heater was as well. All parts of the heater pushed against the wall were thickly coated. Flaky didn't believe it. How could the heater freeze without the ice melting right away?

Evil cursed again and kicked the heater. It hurt badly but the bear was much too upset to notice. He closed his eyes and bit a knuckle.

"Can we scrape the ice off?" Flaky asked, touching the metal object lightly. Her fingers had involuntarily begun to shake again. "Maybe, if we get the ice off, the heat will come back on."

"No," Evil said simply, trying not to growl at her. "The ice would have gotten into the pipes and even if we did get the ice off of the surface it's too late to save the heater. Besides, the pipes are busted. Es roto, terminado. We can't do anything to fix it."

"Nothing? Are you sure?"

"Nada."

Flaky nodded slowly. She turned away from Evil, tears pricking her eyes. The bear behind her growled loudly and punched the stair railing. Flaky could hear the wood cracking beneath his fist.

What were they going to do now?

* * *

**Yep.**

**Just so you know, I don't know anything about power boxes or basement heaters, so... yeah. If any of the information isn't good enough, PM me and I'll make the changes. As for the Spanish song part, it was a spontaneous decision, but I think it fits pretty well... **

**And just so you know, you really shouldn't expect my usual regularity with updates - I'm not officially back on my high horse yet, so if there isn't another chapter in the next three days or so don't be disappointed. **

**Read and Review. *eats a brownie***


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello my friends. It is I, XxBloodsbanexX, here to tell you sorry for the long wait.**

**I was out of town this weekend and pretty much _forced_ myself to write the next chapter of Blissfully Ill; I was terribly happy when I finished. I know what I want to do... for the most part, though the end is still a bit sketchy. I have a fair idea of what's going to happen, though. **

**This intro is short, and that's mostly because I am STRESSING THE F OUT! I cannot find my flash drive for the LIFE of me, which has literally ALL OF MY SCHOOL WORK on it. I'm trying not to get too upset... if I left it at school though, I'll never find it. I just happened to lose it the ONE DAY I voluntarily cleaned my room. Figures. I'm never cleaning my room again...**

**Like I said, enjoy the chapter, please, and leave a nice, long review. It'll help me feel better. Sorry if the chap itself is a little off, but I haven't written much at all (It has been MONTHS. Months... gosh...). **

**Read and Review!**

* * *

Chapter 18

_The area was dark, with only spools of moonlight leaking through tiny cracks in the surface. The cave, once only a single section, had been molded into a dungeon – gaping holes led to other sections of earth and roots, though there was only one room with totems lining the area._

_"Well, how did it go?"_

_The dark figure had been holding a totem, glaring into its glowing red eyes. As the lighter spoke, it broke its concentration and looked over. Moonlight rolled off of its sleek, spotted fur. "All according to plan; our little friend froze the heater and destroyed it."_

_"What about their power?"_

_The spotted figure shrugged. "There wasn't enough time to completely ruin it, but I think I did well enough so that it won't work so well on its own anymore. Don't worry, it'll be enough."_

_The other animal, now walking, moved beneath another strand of light. The silvery glow caressed its own spotted, snowy coat. As the form's upper body stepped out of the light, a long, thick tail trailed behind, twitching at the end as it almost always did. _

_"And the other?" _

_The dark figure grinned. "I sent him up. The little fellow's gotten big since we brought him down here."_

_"He better have!" growled the lighter figure. "You don't know how difficult it is to use complex manipulation spells after so many years. We're just lucky our little pet doesn't have a strong sense of self, or it would have taken so much longer to drive our ancient language's teachings into his skull."_

_"I know, I know," said the darker animal. "Thank you again for taking time out of your harried schedule to drive him mad. I know how much you dislike doing it."_

_The area was dark, but the black figure could actually _feel _the other smirk. "I hate you, you know that? I hate you and your freakin' know-it-all attitude." _

_"Those who live in ignorance often hate those who don't."_

_"F.Y.I., we're living in a cave. One which, might I add, is literally _collapsing _on top of us."_

_"Oh, such _big _words, coming from you; literally, collapsing… - have you been reading a dictionary without me looking again?" _

_The white figure growled deep in its throat and unsheathed it's curved, silvery claws, raking them against the rock as it circled the darker. "Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate~."_

_"And I you, my dear."_

_Just as the lighter figure was pulling back its large paw, a sound came from beyond one of the tunnels. Both figures froze, waiting, until a familiar form appeared at the corner of the main entrance. _

_"Pet!" said the lighter, hopping past the darker and ambling over to the hunched, green-skinned creature. Their voice was met with a lopsided grin, and the lighter hugged the lanky figure, dragging him over to the rock. "Did you do anything devious for me today? Hm?"_

_The figure didn't answer but grinned again. He held in his hand a shard of ice, and every breath he took emitted a frosty cloud of ice crystals. It was warm underground, but his breath was like the arctic. The lighter figure didn't seem fazed by his chilling presence, though; in fact, it seemed to enjoy the cold. _

_"I already told you what he did," mumbled the dark figure, ignoring as its accomplice sat down, setting the green-skinned creature before its feet and stroking his long brown hair. "In a few minutes the other will probably return."_

_"I'm so excited! We'll be out soon, won't we? All of those years stuck under this stupid forest in this stupid cave…"_

_The darker sighed wistfully. "Yes. It'll be fun to finally be able to leave. I see the sunlight and I'm eager to feel it on my fur again."_

_"Forget the sun," said the lighter. "I want to see the moon again. Or the mountains! I wanna run thought the pine forests and hunt again." _

_"It'll be nice…" The darker frowned suddenly, saying, "It'll be… troublesome if our cousins find out what we're up to and attempt to stop us." _

_"They already know," the lighter said resolutely, still clawing gently at her pet's thick hair. "You know they know, but it's not as if they can stop us! They know if they use too much of their power that the balance will go crazy, and with all of the power we've been getting over the years we'll be nearly unstoppable!"_

_"They'll find a way…" the darker growled, clenching the totem in its hand. Already a crack was beginning to form. "They have their slaves, their _followers,_ and they won't hesitate to use their talents." _

_"We have power!" insisted the lighter. "_Raw _power! They have restraints, expectations, limitations – we, on the other hand, have a buildup of rage and energy that they've never imagined–!"_

_"Shh!"_

_The lighter paused, allowing the sound to reach its ears. The other was returning. "Isn't it a bit early for it to return?"_

_A few seconds later, a very large figure entered. The creature was big, nearly three times larger than it had been when the two had first brought it underground. The creature's silhouette was hulking and thick; the many layers of fur caught and reflected each strand of nearby light, causing hues of purple to illuminate and then fade. _

_The creature's mouth was covered in bits of food – there were coffee beans stuck between its teeth, and all kinds of liquids dripping from its chin. As it yawned, both lighter and darker got a whiff of what it had eaten and they gagged. "That thing is a machine!" the lighter said, hissing at the smell. "He must have eaten everything they had left!"_

_"Good," said the darker. "That'll drain them. The hungrier, the more stressed, the weaker they are the better." _

_The lighter grinned cattishly and hopped off the rock. Patting the green creature on his head, it then turned to look at the hulking purple mass. The creature whimpered, whistling weakly between its front teeth, but the lighter only hissed at it. It then began saying something in a foreign tongue; it was a language that warped itself as it went on, and it caused a ringing to form between the creature's ears. The purple monster groaned, then began to back up slowly, swinging its tail back and forth. The white figure continued changing and eventually pushed the other back into its own cave deeper underground._

_"Keep speaking to it," said the darker as its counterpart's outline began to fade. "We need him as large as possible for when we get out of here."_

* * *

Even before the war Flippy had never been a very heavy sleeper. He could sleep through some things, like quiet storms and the television (he'd nearly slept through a robbery once), but never anything really loud. Something else about his sleeping habits had changed during the war, too. Flippy wasn't very unsettled by noises that happened closer to his body, but if it came from far away his ears would immediately detect it. He supposed it was something that came with war – it was important to hear enemies hiding in the bushes around your camp, even when you were fast asleep.

So it wasn't a very loud or very close up noise that awoke Flippy that night. The bear rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, glancing around, hoping to find the source somewhere nearby so he could nullify it and go back to sleep. All was quiet, however. Flippy had quickly gotten used to the coughing, sneezing and nightmare sounds of his fellow sicklies; Flippy had eventually gotten used to not waking up when he himself was stricken with horrible coughs. The ward though, for the most part, was still. No one was very restless that night besides Nutty, who always twitched and murmured in his sleep.

Flippy glanced over at Evil. He could tell the darker bear was awake – his breathing wasn't as smooth or regular – but chose not to acknowledge it. He'd probably just been awoken by the sound too.

Flippy's ear twitched and so did Evil's. There it was again. Flippy grunted as he hurried out of bed; he knew he shouldn't get out, especially now. His condition had gotten a lot worse in the past few days, and now that the heater wasn't functional, it has hard to move around without three layers of cloth around him. Flippy shivered, grabbed his blanket and headed out of the doorway.

Everything was quiet except for the single noise. Flippy could pinpoint its location and headed for the kitchen, clenching the blanket tighter about his shoulders. His muscles ached and he felt nauseous already, but he would never be able to get back to sleep with all of this noise; besides, he was already growing curious as to what the sound even was. It was a lot louder than he thought he'd be as he approached. Who would be up right now anyways? Cuddles, Giggles and the chipmunk's mother were all sick and had been moved into the heavy ward – Flippy had seen them there. Maybe Flaky? No, Flippy thought sadly. The porcupine couldn't and wouldn't miss any chance at sound sleeping. She'd been overworking herself and even thought it was difficult to think about, neither she nor Flippy could see any stop to it in the near future.

Things were so bleak nowadays. Flippy kept thinking about when this had all started and how normal everything had been – for the most part. They were all sick, but no one was even half as worried as they all were now. Before, Sniffles had been in charge and he'd been healthy, but now the anteater was one of the worst of them all. His body was spent and his mind exhausted; Sniffles had overexerted himself so much that he'd fallen asleep the second Flaky forced him into bed and he hadn't woken up since.

Everything's collapsing, Flippy thought as he turned the corner and entered the kitchen.

Then his train of thought stopped. The bear's eyes widened and he had to resist the urge to run back around the corner. Usually the bear didn't have such reactions – he'd fought in the war and had battled with Evil, what was there to be afraid of? – but this… this was just a bit… much.

Standing before the fridge was a giant purple beaver. The creature was more than three times Flippy's own height, with its small ears just brushing the low roof. The beaver was eating out their entire fridge, pulling meats and vegies into its gaping mouth and swallowing handfuls in one gulp. Flippy's shock grew when he saw that the creature had gone through their pantry and cabinets as well. There were bags of chips lying open and scattered, as well as shredded cans and boxes of cereal scattered here and there. The floor was littered with food, and anything that wasn't on the floor had been eaten.

Flippy took a step forward and stepped on a chip. Flinching he stood completely still as the creature's ears twitched. It quickly turned at the waist, abandoning a handful of grapes and resting on all fours. Its eyes widened, and as it began to glance around, look for an escape, Flippy felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Had he ever seen this animal before? It looked strangely familiar…

A knife flew past Flippy's shoulder and missed the creature by an inch. The giant beaver made a pained sound, stood on its hind legs and charged for the door. Evil growled, stepping past Flippy as he pulled another knife from his waist belt, but Flippy held him back. "No, wait!"

"What? Why?" Evil struggled against Flippy's hold, and he should have been able to pull himself free, but Flippy had grabbed Evil's knife hand and was pushing it up against his twin's side. "Just don't hurt it."

"It's stealing all of our food! We've barely got any left!"

"Just don't!"

The beaver had paused at the entrance, and the two green bears watched as it struggled to slip through. Once outside, it ran off into the far off line of trees.

Flippy winced when Evil punched him into the doorway. "¿Está loco? Why didn't you let me kill that thing?"

"I just…" Flippy groaned, kneading his forehead and trying to dispel his growing migraine. "I don't know. I thought I knew what that thing was. I felt like it was… a friend, somehow."

"A friend?" Evil scoffed, putting his knife against his side again, making sure it was secure. "You have the strangest taste in friends, chico."

Flippy said nothing, the thought was nagging at him so. Who was that? That face, those blue-violet eyes… they were so familiar and yet Flippy felt like the memory had been taken away from him.

"Flippy? Flippy, why are you up?"

Flippy froze, then turned to see Flaky slowly walking down the hallway. She was dressed in his clothes again, a t-shirt and pants, and had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders just as he had done. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were a bit pink, as if she'd been rubbing them. She still looked tired – just as tired as she'd looked when she'd put Sniffles to bed. Her fur wasn't half its normal scarlet shade and her eyes were discolored too, but with worry and grief rather than stress. It broke Flippy's heart to see her like this.

"Something was here," Evil said, frowning when Flippy hadn't spoken. "It broke in the hospital and it _ate everything_."

Flippy thought he could hear Flaky's heart stop beating. She hurried down the hallway and gently pushed past them, gasping as she saw the destroyed kitchen. Food was everywhere; empty boxes and cans, shattered plates and cups littered the floor with dangerous glass shards. Most of the cabinet doors were torn off their hinges or hanging by one, and it looked as if the cupboard had been crushed into the bark of the tree. Tables were broken, as were chairs, and Flaky's body began to shake as when she realized that they didn't have much food left. Other than what she saw unopened on the floor or half-eaten and forgotten beneath furniture, there wasn't much of anything.

The three of them were completely silent for a few minutes. Flippy was holding Flaky around the shoulder, trying to sooth her trembling body. Evil was gnawing on a dog tag, digging his teeth into its metal surface and making marks in it.

After a while, Flaky asked what time it was and Evil told her about sunrise (since it was now impossible to tell what time of day it was, there was only 'sunrise' and 'sunset' when it came to daytime). Flaky sighed, commanded Flippy to go back to bed, and began cleaning up the kitchen.

* * *

Evil was one of those animals who hated cleaning but liked things to be neat. It was a habit he'd obtained while in the war. He, by nature, was a disorganized bear and didn't like having to clean, but if something was too messy it would drive him insane until he fixed it.

It was for this reason that when Flaky hesitantly asked him to help her, he grumbled and muttered some half-assed excuse but ended up helping her anyway.

The kitchen was an absolute mess; that beaver thing really knew how to piss someone off. Evil was livid – as if they didn't have enough problems! The anteater couldn't research for an antidote to the sickness, everyone else was ill beside he and Flaky, and the porcupine was so stressed she couldn't even sleep. To be truthful, Evil was very grateful that _he _wasn't playing nurse. It was pitiful; she looked so stressed and worried all of the time. Evil wondered if he'd ever looked like that in the W.A.R... Probably not, but he could at least try to imagine what she was feeling.

Cleaning the kitchen took about forty minutes. They'd had to sweep the entire floor first, to get rid of all the glass, and by the time they were finished Evil had gotten rid of five garbage bags. They'd thrown away any food on the ground and all torn and empty containers. It was only after wiping everything down and reorganizing that the two of them realized what deep shit they were in.

All of the food they had left in the hospital-tree fit on a single shelf in the half-destroyed cupboard. There were a few cans, some bags of chips and a couple of spices and oils that were used to make complex dishes they wouldn't be able to create. A box of crackers, a few boxes of raisons and some pancake batter; other than the half-carton of milk and a packet of Kool-Aid powder, those were all of the provisions they had.

"Oh dear," Flaky whimpered, her voice soft and thin. Evil gave her a half-worried look. She even _sounded _like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. "There's so little food. There can't be enough for more than two days."

"Hardly even that," Evil muttered, calculating in his head. "With all of the sicklies here, you'll barely go two days even, unless you start rationing everything."

"I can't to that…" Flaky said. She closed her eyes and sighed damply, reaching for a chair and sitting down. Evil stood across from here, watching. "I can't do something like that. Everyone is malnourished as is. Nutty, Flippy… Sniffles too." Flaky sniffled. "Especially Sniffles. He didn't eat well even before yesterday, and he's so thin now…" The porcupine covered her eyes with the backs of her hands and rubbed at them, making tiny little whimpering noises in her throat. Her behavior was throwing Evil off balance and making him uncomfortable, but he didn't think ditching her here would be a great idea.

"Could we go out?" he asked. "Y'know, get more food from town. Flippy told me you all lived pretty close by–"

"No!"

Evil was actually taken aback at Flaky's snappy response. She was looking at him – no, actually _glaring _at him – with wide, frightened eyes. Her hands were clenched and when she finally settled down she mumbled something about snowmen that Evil couldn't catch. "¿Qué?"

"We just… can't…" Flaky shook her head and set it down on her arms. "I'm not going out there, not again, not out there…"

"Why not?" Evil was getting angry again. He thought she was being selfish again – just because she was afraid to go out, the others would have to starve? Bullshit. "Why can't we go out? Just because _you _don't want to go doesn't mean we shouldn't. Look, there's no food here and there might be food out in town. We can just–"

"No! I said I won't go out there!"

Evil slammed his fists on the table in front of Flaky. "Well why the _Hell not!"_

* * *

**Yep. At first I didn't think of ending it there, but then I was like... why not? Already started on the next chap, so cross your fingers! XP**

**Oh god, please wish me luck in finding my drive. If I don't my world will surly collapse... **

**Also, for those of you who don't know, I have a poll on my profile and I'd appreciate it if you voted. It's nice to know you care! **

**Hope to be back soon with more Blissfully Ill, with love for my dear readers,**

**XxBloodsbanexX**


	19. Chapter 19

**First of all, I just want to thank all of the fans who've put up with my crap and are still reading this fic (I'm so sorry ) I really don't mean to take forever, but I've only just now had a crap-ton of time to spend writing this fic, and luckily I still have the knack so things are going well. The story's gonna start developing a bit more... I can see the end, now. **

**I was so surprised when I saw they re-did the website, but I kind of like its new style. It takes a bit of getting used to, though... Ah well, I'll make the best. XD**

**Once again, thank you for still reading, and I hope the end of this fic won't disappointed any of you lovely people. **

**Please, read and review. But most of all, enjoy. ;) I present to you Chapter 19 of Blissfully Ill. **

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Chapter 19

Evil was so surprised…

It was an understatement to say…

Words… couldn't describe…

No. Just… Just no.

She was crying, and that much was plain. Here Evil was, angry and growling, his fists having hit the table just before her, and she was crying. Her fat, wet tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked into her fur, making dark tracks of water line the sides of her face. She was staring at him with wide, pinkish eyes and holding a hand in front of her mouth and nose. Now the tears were pooling beneath her on the table, making damp sounds as they landed.

Evil was at a loss. He was still upset, but it wasn't anger as much as it was irritation; why was he irritated anyway? With her crying or his own anger? It was really hard to tell – what was he supposed to do now, anyway, with her crying like that? Did he tell her to stop? Was he supposed to comfort her? Evil didn't know how to handle women, let alone terrified, overstressed porcupines. How in the world was he supposed to respond to this?

He started by slowly bringing his fists away, forcing them to uncurl and then taking a seat on the floor in front of Flaky. She'd closed her eyes now, burying her face in her hands as she wept. Her tears were flooding between her fingers and leaving stains on the wood of the table.

"Eh…" Evil frowned deeply, a growl humming in his throat. Unconsciously he lifted one of his dog tags and began chewing on it. His teeth rested nicely against the impressions already made on its metal surface.

He didn't say anything, but the sound of his gnawing drew Flaky's attention. The porcupine stopped crying for a moment, reducing her tears to small sniffles, and peaked through her hands to look at Evil. "W-what… What are you d-d-doing?"

Evil took the piece of metal from his mouth. "Dog tag."

"Oh…"

It was quiet again, but not for long before Evil said, "If you won't go I guess that's fine, but someone's got to get more food."

"I won't go," Flaky told him in a shaky breath. "Not out there."

Evil stood. He stretched, patting the knife at his waist. "I'll go then."

Flaky didn't say anything. Evil glanced at her worriedly and turned, glancing toward the entrance. One of the doors had fallen off its hinges with the force of the creature's escape. He frowned. Handy would have to fix that soon, or else more cold air would get in. "Get Handy to fix the door."

After waiting for an answer and not getting one, Evil growled and snapped around to look at the porcupine. "Listen, the least you could do is answer me-"

He paused. Flaky's head was resting in her arms, and she'd fallen asleep. Evil paused, his face fell, and he sighed, dropping his previous anger and choosing to grab her blanket from the floor and drape it over her shaking body.

XxXx

Flaky awoke to a torrent of cool air. She shivered and slowly untangled her arms, rubbing her eyes and glancing around. Sleep softened her vision, but she realized quickly that she was in the kitchen downstairs. Beyond the kitchen doorway was the hospital entrance, and she sighed, seeing that the front door was broken.

Handy'll have to… fix that…

Flaky yawned and forced herself to stand up, though the call for sleep was strong and lulling. She blinked at the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Had Flippy done that…? No, Evil was the one she'd been talking to. As Flaky examined the kitchen, slowly moving toward the stairs, she remembered what had happened only a few hours ago (as far as she could guess). He'd wanted to go out and she refused. Flaky sighed, halting halfway up the stairs. She leaned against the wall and railing, allowing tears to slip past her lids once more. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but she just… Not after what happened, after that feeling. She didn't _want _to be that Flaky again.

Slowly, Flaky slid down to the ground, her eyes drooping. She was so tired… She'd gotten a bit of sleep the night before, but not enough to make up for all the hours lost. The cold coming from outside wasn't helping much either. But she couldn't sleep… on the stairs…

Flaky sighed, giving up on her fight. She couldn't help it, her body was too exhausted. The blanket slipped as Flaky's body un-tensed, fluttering down a few of the steps. Mmm… Sleep sounded so nice…

"Flaky? Flaky, wake up!"

Flaky blinked grumpily as she was shaken, and pushed her hands out, trying to drive the aggressor away and find the soft haze of sleep again. "Leave me alone…"

"No, Flaky, wake up. You're freezing…"

Flippy wasn't wearing a shirt, and the softness of his belly fur brought Flaky back from her mind fog. She opened her eyes fully, taking in the bear before her. His neck and ears were wet, dripping – he must have taken a shower. He had a towel wrapped around his shoulders as well. The bear was shivering, yet as Flaky took in the tiny ice crystals sticking to the ends of her eyelashes and chest fur, she didn't feel any colder than before.

"I'm not cold…" Flaky said, and allowed Flippy to help her stand. Her legs had fallen asleep. Flaky whimpered and Flippy grabbed onto her waist, practically carrying her downstairs and back into the kitchen.

The front door was still broken, letting in plumes of ice and snow. Flippy growled, settling Flaky at the nearest table, and turned to go back upstairs. "I'll get Handy. He's asleep, but he's not feeling half as bad as the others. He-" Flippy paused, leaning against the wall and letting out a loud, grating cough. It lasted about three seconds, and he thumped his chest afterward, trying to get rid of the pain in his throat. Flaky waited for him to finish his sentence, but he continued up the stairs without another word.

Time passed. Flaky drifted in and out of sleep, only waking up when the sounds of Handy's hammer or him cursing grew too loud, and Flippy always silenced him as swiftly as possible. It was sunset by the time Flaky woke again, and she'd been left in the kitchen. Flippy gave her another blanket and had propped her head up with a pillow from her room. The porcupine sighed, silently thanking him and snuggling against the pillow.

It took a few moments for Flaky to realize that something felt different. Groaning as she sat up, the female twisted around and her eyes widened. "He made a fire?"

It seemed Flippy realized that even with a second blanket Flaky wouldn't be warm enough (she doubted he would be able to carry her upstairs) and had used some kind of tool to remove kitchen tiles and dig a hole into the ground. A smile fire was crackling in the center, wavering in height and warmth like a heartbeat.

Flaky sighed in restrained delight, carefully sliding off of her seat and over to the edge of the fireplace. Now the light was orange, flickering in the tiny smolders and sending off wavering breathes of heat. Flaky frowned, watching as the flames gradually died down. It would go out soon. Flaky whimpered and looked around. Wasn't there a lighter around here? What had Flippy used to start the fire?

Flaky noticed two rocks sitting nearby and guessed that the war veteran had done things the old fashion way. Sighing, she spent a few minutes rummaging around the kitchen in search of a lighter or anything else that might help. She found nothing.

The fire was almost gone, and its light was beginning to shrink, leaving corners of the room shrouded. Flaky suddenly began to panic. She'd missed real warmth, having been without the heater for more than a few days. The smothering warmth of sleep had been comforting, but the fire had woken Flaky up and she'd missed heat like that. The idea of it going out and being unable to relight it was unpleasant.

Flaky sat down again and attempted to clear her mind. There had to be some other source of fire so she could keep the fire going. If she did, she could have Handy and Flippy enlarge the hole tomorrow, so that maybe the heat would help to warm up the rest of the tree. If not, maybe she could bring everyone to sleep on the bottom floors… There might not be enough room for them all, though. Also, living in a tree there was the possibility of a fire. Flaky closed her eyes, sighing. It would be so much easier if she didn't have to think of it all herself. She hoped Sniffles would wake up soon so she could ask him for some help…

An idea presented itself. The porcupine thought about it, but there wasn't much of a chance it would work. If Lumpy's truck was still here (and it was), there might be some kind of lighter in there.

I'd have to get some thicker clothes, Flaky thought. She stood and walked into the hallway. There were a few closets with old patient dresses and a few of Sniffles' doctor robes. Flaky grabbed a few of the robes and put them on over her sleeping clothes. They were still letting in a bit of cold, but if she tied both blankets around her she'd be warm enough.

Flaky got ready, tying the lightest blanket about her neck like a cape (she allowed herself a hesitant moment of childishness, running around and twirling, happy to allow herself a few selfish seconds to herself) and held the thickest about her shoulders as she carefully opened the newly fixed glass door and stepped outside.

Thank god she had boots on; the snow, already more than four inches deep, had a layer of ice coating it, and Flaky was actually able to stand on it for a few seconds if she balanced her weight before the layer cracked and the snow engulfed her heels. There wasn't any snow, but it was windy and the wind drove icicles into Flaky's hair and eyes. She lifted the blanket to protect her face and continued on, rounding the base of the tree and to the side.

The sun was setting, but there was still a bit of light outside, though it was fading swiftly. Flaky hurriedly made her way to the truck. She'd located Lumpy's keys before going out, and now unopened the driver's door, climbing in and shutting the door behind her to keep out the cold.

Shivering, Flaky tossed aside her larger blanket and rested for a moment. There were bits of ice glittering on the fur of her face hands, and Flaky stroked her tail in an attempt to warm it up.

After that Flaky began searching. She checked the glove compartment and between and underneath the seats first, then crawled onto her knees and checked the seats and floor behind her. There were pieces of paper as well as bits of food, but Flaky couldn't find anything that would help, not even a cigarette lighter attached to the truck. Flaky frowned, forcing herself not to start crying. She had to calm down. It wasn't even that big a deal. She would survive until morning, when Flippy would start another fire. She'd just have to make it through the rest of…

Flaky paused in her train of thought; she backed into the passenger seat and onto her blanket, holding one end close. Wind blew outside, pushing against the car and leaving frost against the windows. It was dark now, and tiny stars were already pushing their light through the velvet darkness.

There it is again, Flaky thought, gripping the leather seat tightly. It felt like a tremor beneath the car. She wanted to get out but a third quiver – it was much stronger than the other two and enough to rattle the car – discouraged her. The red female sat still, waiting for something else to happen.

A sound, thick and muffled like bones breaking. Flaky twisted to look out of the window and was horrified to see a giant crack leading away from the truck and stopping a few feet away. Another rumble shook beneath Flaky, sending her off of the seat and into the dashboard, and she watched as the crack grew in size.

A giant tremor, enough to throw Flaky back against the driver door window and then into the area beneath the dashboard. She groaned, having hit her waist and head, but was thrown out of her area once more when the truck lurched and it's rear fell backwards. Flaky screamed, falling between the two back seats and hitting the small rear window – hard.

Cracks webbed around her body when Flaky opened her eyes again. The truck was almost completely vertical now, half in and half out of the ground. A crater was large and stopped about six feet underground, allowing only the nose of the car visible above ground.

Slowly, Flaky attempted to get onto her knees, but the cracking of glass below her made her hesitate. She glanced upward, and seeing the head of the seat, took a deep breath before quickly going onto her knees, reaching up and grabbing the leather just as the glass beneath her shattered.

She didn't get a good grip and fell back.

Flaky squeaked in pain as her shoulder smashed into the edge of the back of the truck. She quickly rolled onto her back. She gasped and hissed as she felt the tiny pains of glass puncturing skin, and she forced herself to sit up, moving away from the shards with as much caution as possible.

A hallow wind drew the porcupine's attention into the tunnel. The first thing that surprised her was the fact there _was _a tunnel underground. It was circular – it looked manmade – and after a couple of meters it veered to the left, going deeper underground. Flaky was shaken when she felt a dry, dusty wind expel from the depths like an ancient breath.

She wanted to get out. Now.

Flaky kicked away some of the larger glass shards and was trying to figure out a way to climb back into the truck when a sound caught her attention. The air underground was slightly warmer than above, but now a strange chill was hanging about Flaky's body, and when she turned she saw two glowing red eyes staring at her from the darkness.

As two figures stepped out of the shadows, Flaky cringed, backing away, but something about the creatures made her pause and concentrate. One had green skin, tiny ears and long brown locks blocking out his eyes. It carried a giant wooden club with spikes of ice protruding from the blunt end, and its lazy smile wasn't as menacing as the way it kept slinging the club back and forth. The second was much scarier. It was a giant purple beaver, with oversized teeth and blue-violet eyes. It looked sad, but growled as it slowly approached Flaky.

Though the porcupine was scared, she couldn't help but think she knew these creatures. Something about them gave her an almost nauseous kind of déjà vu.

As they came close enough for Flaky to hear their breathing, the female realized she should probably go back to being scared and try to find a way out. She kicked at more glass and, glancing above her, jumped as high as she could. Her hands were cut by shards of leftover glass, and the first jump failed because one shard broke beneath her weight. Flaky didn't bother resisting the tears but attempted to ignore her pain and try again. She caught the inside of the truck and quickly pulled herself up. She hissed, feeling the glass rake against her stomach as she pulled herself into the vehicle.

She had to climb upward, ignoring the sound of their footsteps as the mysterious creatures came closer. Flaky managed to reach the driver's seat and sat down on the backrest. Licking blood from her hands she reached for the door and pushed. Earth and snow blocked her way, and the metal door refused to budge.

Flaky's forced calm flew out the moment at this. She let out a panicked scream and leaned back against the chair, kicking at the front window. She swore she heard laughter behind her, and her heart stopped when she felt the car shake. She dared to glance behind her and her eyes widened as the green one attempted climbing after her.

Flaky threw her weight at the glass and screamed again, calling for someone, anyone, to help her out. It had started snowing again, and already more than half of the window was covered. She punched the glass, ignoring as the force drove bits of glass further into her skin.

A hand touched her ankle. The porcupine burst into tears.

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**Go ahead, review. You know you want to...**


	20. Chapter 20

**Wow. Just wow.**

**So I've been on kind of a writing spree lately, and I got two chapters of Blissfully Ill finished yesterday (hurray for me!). I like this one better than the other, though the other I wrote first (it's strange...). Anyways, hurrah, Chapter 20 of Blissfully Ill! Let me tell you, did you know that this story has already reached over a hundred pages? Well it has. This is one of my longest writings ever, and it's a fanfiction! I only have one original story longer, and only by a few dozen pages. I'm so proud of myself *tears***

**Anyway, a quick thank you to all who have been reading. I'm just so glad I have people who read and actually _like _my stories and tell me so! I'm so thankful for all of you... but I cannot spoil you! No more praise! (Unless you review, that is.)**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy. ;)**

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Chapter 20

The Buddhist Monkey liked gardening. In fact, the small primate enjoyed it so much that he'd spent the better part of three months searching for special rocks to add to his collection of sculptures. The stones were round and smooth, and came in two colors: the darkest of black and the purest of white.

They weren't hard to find, but the Buddhist Monkey spent much time meditating and reading, studying the teachings left to him from his wise master, the Orangutan Buddha. The little monkey didn't have too much time to himself between studies, but he managed to find a few hours at a time to slip down to a small beach cove a few miles off. There he collected the stones.

The stones were now arranged on the ground; Monkey had taken great care in placing them, and now, as he sat on a tall wooden pole stationed in the middle, he admired his work with a contented sigh.

Around him was the yin and yang symbol, which swirled around the pole where he knelt on the tips of his feet. He admired how the white stones gleamed joyously in the light of the morning sun, and how the black stones somehow seemed to grow darker against the light. He knew that, at night, it would be the black stones which gleamed in the moonlight, while the white stones acquired a milky white sheen, like that of ocean brine.

One end dark, one end light, both with dots of their reflection showing at the head; it was the symbol for peace and balance within the world. Buddhist Monkey smiled lightly and then gently balanced himself so that he could meditate.

Hours slowly passed. Monkey was barely aware of them, for he had retreated into a realm of reflection located in his inner psyche. Eyes closed, the honey-colored primate envisioned himself beside a large pool, which was sparkling like a sea of diamonds. The monkey made a sound of pleasure deep in his throat, choosing to settle down on his knees at the very edge of the water. He leaned over to admire the quality of his reflection, but instead saw unexpected darkness. The rest of the water was still clear, but his reflection was cloaked in purple shadows. Buddhist Monkey blinked in curiosity, but then two eyes that did not belong to him emerged from the head of the shadow.

It was a shadow ninja.

Buddhist Monkey was thrown from his meditation at the force of another essence prodding against his own. Quickly getting onto his feet, the small monkey silently leapt from the apex of the bamboo pole, his image fading against the full moon, which had risen in the hours of his meditation. Monkey landed in the rocks, at the point of white amidst a curve of purest black.

Monkey opened his eyes. Across from him at a slanted angle was a small army of shadow ninja. They stood silently in the night, eyes half lidded, even glazed, as they stared at their enemy.

From the point of black amidst a cloud of white, one ninja rose from the darkness, taking form before Buddhist Monkey.

Monkey didn't say anything. The air was silent, yet abuzz with tension and speculation.

A wind blew by.

"Our master is dead."

Buddhist Monkey was surprised and didn't bother hiding it. His defensive stance wavered with the dying wind, and he stood up straighter, tail tip curling. "Do you speak the truth?"

The shadow ninja nodded, and his companions stared forlornly at the ground at their feet. Buddhist Monkey relaxed slightly, but kept his eyes fixed on their supposed leader. "What happened?"

There was a brief moment of uneasy silence, then, "We do not know."

"How did he die?"

"In agony," the ninja said, and his own eyes fell to the rocks below him. His feet were balanced against their curved surfaces with masterful precision, as were Monkey's.

"The Shadow Lord was sitting in his throne room," the ninja said. "He had summoned all of his followers into the room, and there he told us things we know not of." The ninja's behind him, Monkey saw, seemed to draw a bit closer to each other at this point. Even the leader shivered slightly. "He said… that he had failed them. He sounded afraid. He attempted to tell us something… but his mind kept straying. He kept repeating the same line 'I've failed them. I've failed to kill the light, the ultimate power. They will come for me…', but he did not say much for long. A powerful force…" The ninja shivered visibly, as did his companions. "It was as if the moonlight and shadows mixed and became one, and ribbons of energy flew from the walls and wrapped themselves around our master's body. He screamed in agony before the ribbons crushed him."

The ninja's voice wavered as he finished his explanation, and Monkey could see fear clear in his eyes.

Monkey let his guard drop – for the most part – and asked, "Why are you telling me this? You've tried to kill me, and I've killed many of your kind."

The ninja shook his head as if Buddhist Monkey didn't understand. "We have never attempted to kill you. Only once did the Shadow Lord truly attempt to take your life, but he failed. There were few others. I have always… we have for a while been wondering why our Lord would send so many only to perish beneath your anger. We feel that whoever… or whatever… he 'failed' commanded him to do so. Perhaps it even wanted him to kill you, but he failed. We guess you to be the 'light'."

"But you are servants to the shadows and darkness." Buddhist Monkey looked around in thought. Flicking his tail, he glanced up at the moon as if it could give him the answers. "Why come to me?"

The ninjas who stood behind their leader all bowed low, falling to their knees and settling their foreheads against the bare dirt of the garden. The one who stood before Monkey took a knee and faced the ground, eyes closed. His fingers rested against the black and white stones. "Just as light and dark dance against each other – _with _each other – we chose to align ourselves with you. Just as yin and yang work together to create peace and tranquility, those of us who remain of the Shadow Ninja have chosen to work with you… if you help us find who murdered our Lord."

XxXx

Buddhist Monkey was sitting on the pole again, staring down at the rocks he'd placed only the day before. He had a lot on his mind, more than he ever thought he'd have to worry about. He'd attempted to send the ninjas away so he could think, but they'd refused to go back to the Shadow Palace, where their Lord was murdered. They said there was a strange, ominous force residing there now, too strong for them to pit themselves up against. Many of them were afraid, though most were simply cautious. They were up against something they didn't understand, and it gave them greater fears than even death.

Buddhist Monkey had allowed them all to stay the night at his own dwelling, and though there was little room the ninja's didn't complain and had slept soundly. At this morning they were wandering the grounds, inspecting the gardens and scouting around the forests which surrounded the monkey's territory. Buddhist Monkey saw that most of them seemed very idle, as if in a mist, and he couldn't imagine what they were thinking – their Lord had been cruel and secretive, but it was apparent they felt some great loss at his death.

The ninja who had spoken for them the night before was nowhere to be seen. It was difficult telling them apart, but the leader had a longer scarf running from his neck, one that caught the wind and rode it in even the slightest of breezes. He'd directed and ordered his fellow Shadow Ninjas the night before, but now he seemed to have melted into the shadows, away from prying eyes.

Probably to rest his own thoughts, Buddhist Monkey pondered, sighing gently to himself and closing his eyes. His long tail wrapped about the bamboo pole beneath his toes and he slowly calmed his breath. Meditation would help him to think…

He was at the pool again. Buddhist Monkey was once again overjoyed to see the serenity of the water, the sparkling surface, and he quickly knelt beside it. This time, when he looked into the water, he saw his own reflection staring back in wonder. High above him was the moon, and on every edge of the water were grasses reaching high as Monkey was tall. They swayed in a gentle breeze that cooled Monkey's back and ran ripples across the water.

There came no sound, but from behind someone came to join him. Buddhist Monkey tilted his head and saw it was Mother Panda and her cub; they knelt beside him at the water's edge and the mother took her young one from the portable basket she kept him in, allowing the young bear to dip his head in to drink.

The pleasant silence stretched for a long time, allowing Monkey to think more about his problem. He felt he could trust the Shadow Ninjas, though it seemed only logical that he don't – what if it was all a lie, a trap to have him drop his guard so they could finish him when he knew nothing of it? The safest and smartest thing for him to do would be to kill them all first, and yet something held him back. It wasn't really that he believed what they said, but he couldn't dismiss their words. It was as if, though he doubted their sincerity, he knew that they weren't lying.

"They have chosen to fight with light and not against it."

Monkey blinked, then turned to see that Mother Panda was holding her cub close against her stomach. The child was asleep, but Mother Panda was staring back at Buddhist Monkey, her grey eyes bright. It was odd, because Mother Panda had never spoken to Monkey and he didn't know if it was truly her speaking or another force speaking through her.

"Why me, though?" he asked, deciding not to argue. At the moment, Mother Panda held about her an air of peace and wisdom, and Monkey truly wanted any opportunity to set his worries to rest. "Why would they ask me to help them when they were trained to attack or kill me?"

"They understand that you are the only one to help them," Mother Panda said, her voice soft. She gently put her cub back in the basket. She held him so cautiously, and Buddhist Monkey suddenly noticed that her baby was quite plump, yet she herself looked painfully thin. He'd seen her scavenging in trash cans before, but he'd never guessed things were so desperate for the mother.

Mother Panda continued. "They understand that you are the light to their darkness. They know that without you they could not exist, and honor and faith have driven them to ask your help."

"I see…" Buddhist Monkey, smiled softly, dipping his fingers into the water. It was odd that they liquid beneath his fingers didn't move, and there were no ripples as there had been against the wind. "So we're like yin and yang. We move side by side, and while we're opposites and sometimes oppose each other, when we work together we find balance."

"Yes."

Mother Panda suddenly stood up. She bent down and placed her baby's basket in the water – the basket floated, and as Mother Panda stepped into the water she pushed the basket along with her. Monkey watched and felt himself slowly rising to his feet as the panda and her child reached the center of the pool, where the reflection of the moon sat still against the water. She turned, and releasing the basket so it bobbed gently beside her, she placed the back of her hand against the surface of the water. "Awaken."

Buddhist Monkey opened his eyes. He found himself standing on his toes against the bamboo pole, and below him were the Shadow Ninjas. All of them had gathered before him and the stone picture, and Mother Panda was kneeling before him as well. They had been observing her great interest, but their attention turned to Monkey, sensing that he had re-connected with the conscious world.

Buddhist Monkey was surprised to see the leader ninja standing beside Mother Panda, and grew even more so after he noticed the male was holding Mother Panda's cub awkwardly in his arms. The ninja himself looked surprised, and glance down at the sleeping bundle of fur he held warily against his chest.

Just as he'd seen in his meditation, Mother Panda rested her hand against the rocks at her feet. Night had climbed the sky by then, and as in his dream the light fell directly against her fur, making the white glow and the black gleam.

A ripple of light ran through the rocks below Monkey. Suddenly, Mother Panda blinked and lost her balance. She looked around, as if unaware of her surroundings, and nearly screamed when she saw all of the Shadow Ninja's gathered around her. Upon spying the Buddhist Monkey, however, she slowly began relaxing.

Monkey gestured for the panda to leave, and the mother stood slowly. She was shocked to see that her cub was in the hands of one of the ninjas, and she hesitantly moved to take him away. The ninja leader flinched at her touch, and their eyes met for the shortest of seconds before the child was in his mother's grasp again. The ninja's eyes dilated and Mother Panda's nose twitched in curiosity before she hurried out of the grounds.

Silence; then, the ground beneath Buddhist Monkey seemed to move. He looked down and saw the rocks beneath him shuddering as if a strong wind was blowing. One by one they began ascending into the air. Black stones and white stones alike began twirling around him, and soon they all flew into the air with a hiss. The stones glinted and shimmered like falling water as they swirled above Buddhist Monkey, making the yin-yang sign above him.

Buddhist Monkey dropped down from his post and stood before the Shadow Ninja leader. They both locked eyes for a moment, and simultaneously understood. Buddhist Monkey took a step back and bowed to the ninja as he would his old master. He was pleased when the leader – as well as all of the other ninjas – returned the favor.

"What shall we do now?" the leader asked as they stood alert again. As he asked the question, the hundreds of stones above them moved again. The black and white split into two separate forms, seeming like giant koi fish being viewed from above, then they began moving toward the west in a fish-like motion, as if they were swimming against the midnight sky.

All present followed the yin and yang images until they reached a high point of the mountains. They watched as the flying rocks continued on downward, heading away from the mountains it seemed.

"They're going toward the forest below," the leader of the Shadow Ninja's said. "They seem to be leading us toward Happy Tree Valley. Would it be wise to follow?"

Buddhist Monkey glanced over at them all. Then he said, "How long will it take to get there on foot?"

"Only five days, if we are swift."

"Send half of your friends to get provision from my home, and then we will leave. I do not know what awaits us… but with yin and yang to guide us, I hope we will learn what it is they plan."

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**This chapter was really fun to write, mostly because I didn't have to make anything explode or have anything get impaled upon a stick. It was just so mellow the whole time... and I enjoyed doing Buddhist Monkey's visions. I'd like to think I used some symbolism in thar. ;P**

**Review, my pretties! Please?**


	21. Chapter 21

**Oh well hello my readers. Eager to get back to business? **

**Just so you know, I would have gotten this chapter up either right after or a day after posting the previous one. However, there was one review that made me decide to put it off. It was this review: **

_**UM...YEAH. U JUST TOTALLY LOST ME THAT CHAPTER WHERE IS FLAKY? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? ='( I JUST SKIMMED THROUGH THAT CHAPTER LOOKING FOR FLAKY'S NAME. COULD'NT FIND IT. I'M UPSET RIGHT NOW. - FXFCRAZIEZ**_

**I don't need to explain why this review irritates me to no end, and it's why I kinda ditched you guys. It's just stupid - it's stupid to complain about a chapter not having your favorite character because the chapter might, oh well, I don't know, HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE PLOT. I've decided I hate anonymous reviews. Well, specifically anonymous reviews that are like THIS, the ones I want to respond to but can't because they're ANONYMOUS.**

**Sorry. Instead of ranting about how much this review ABSOLUTELY ANNOYS ME, I suppose you've all suffered punishment enough. I give you chapter twenty-one of Blissfully Ill. I just hope you all have something intelligent to say about it if you have an opinion at all. **

**And also, Mr. or Ms. FXFCRAZIEZ, I suggest you go back and actually READ the last chapter because if you don't YOU WONT KNOW SHIT!**

**Alright, I'm done. Sorry. Go ahead and read.**

**Ignore Evil's spontaneous bouts of Spanish rage. ;P**

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"No me gusta la nieve. No me gusta el frío. ¿Por qué estoy haciendo esto? No he tenido quecaminar a través de esta agua congelada tanto desde el ataque contra los osos polares estúpido_." _Evil chuckled, shaking his head and repositioning the very large, very heavy bag on his shoulder. One hand was holding onto the bag, and the other was pulling a wheelbarrow full of food. The bear grunted, pausing for a second and then turning left. He'd re-entered the forest leading to the hospital-tree in a different direction and was relying on his internal compass to lead him back.

"Fucking osos. Nunca nos enteramos por qué estaban trabajando para General Tiger. ¿Cómo secontratar osos polares? ¿Sobornar a les? Probablemente podría darles algunos peces y seríabuenos. Stupid fucking osos polares. FUCK MIERDA HACE FRIO!_"_

Evil gritted his teeth together, trying to control his anger. He wasn't even sure why he was so pissed, but the reason must have been a good one because he'd been like this most of his trip. Maybe it was the feeling of being isolated in an abandoned town for nearly two days that reminded him of war, or the feeling that he got when scavenging – it reminded him of having to scrounge around for food back in the war.

Then again, _maybe _it was his sudden, irresistible urge to take something by the throat and slit it into ribbons. Just the thought made Evil's fur shiver in pleasure. He imagined his fight with the polar bears, one he'd gone through over and over again in Flippy's memories. He'd been up against this one really _big _guy, with bloodstains all over his blinding white fur, and Evil had the pleasure of breaking the creatures jaw_, climbing into his stomach_ and then cutting himself out from the inside, effectively killing the bear in what was probably the most painful way possible.

Now, Evil wasn't one for such showy kills, but he liked to keep things interesting, and with so many idiots willing to run at you and get themselves skinned, Evil had to keep his creative juices flowing as to keep himself from getting bored. Besides, going into the bear's stomach was an interesting way to kill it and had driven a solid fear into all of the other polar bears (their fear made it easier to catch them off guard, and Evil had always enjoyed the smell).

Suddenly, Evil decided he wasn't going in the right direction. He turned right again, and after a few yards he was able to see one big, snowy clearing amidst the smaller trees. Instantly the green bear felt much better. He hurried out into the moonlit patch and grunted as he forced the wheelbarrow through the thick layers of ice and snow. For some reason the concentration of snow was at its worst here.

Approaching the front doors (which were open for some reason), Evil began to hear voices coming from inside. He first chalked it up to Flaky or Flippy trying to get food ready, or maybe Sniffles had woken up and was trying to get back to work (not that Flaky would allow it), but once Evil was about to climb inside with the bag of food, leaving the wheelbarrow behind for later, he saw the skunk girl – Petunia right? – shakily launching herself from the kitchen area and towards the front door.

Petunia paused when she saw Evil with the bag. The bear was standing still, half in and half out the door, when the skunk suddenly jumped at him. The bear took a step back in alarm. "Hey, hey, hey! ¿Estás demente? Dejar de tocarme!_"_

"Where is she?" Petunia demanded, her eyes sparkling with what looked like worry. At the volume of her question, others from the kitchen heard, and Flippy, Handy, and the chipmunk's mother all came out into the hallway. "Did you do anything to her?"

"No hacer nada! Yo a obtener alimentos!_" _Evil shoved past her and addressed Flippy. "¿Qué está mal? ¿Quiénes son todos ustedes en busca de?_"_

Flippy rubbed a knuckle against his temple and growled, "I _can't _understand Spanish, Evil."

"Oh yeah.Who are you all shouting about? I brought the food and it's sitting outside in the cold, so you might want to get on that."

"We can't find Flaky," Petunia said to him, her words bitter. Evil didn't spare her a glance and asked Flippy if she was serious, which she was.

"We've been looking everywhere for the past twenty minutes," Flippy said. "A few of us woke up because of a tremor. We thought there might have been an earthquake, but it ended after a few minutes. I came down here to check on Flaky – she fell asleep in the kitchen again – and she wasn't here. I checked all of the wards, her bedroom, and when Handy and Ms. Giggles started helping me we checked the basement, attic and bathrooms. She's not here. Petunia's been checking outside but it's too cold to go beyond the front."

Evil nodded, he couldn't argue with that. It was storming on his way back, in fact, though it had died down a bit since he'd returned. It was still dark out, and flurries of snow had stung against his fur. "You sure you searched everywhere?"

"Yes!" Petunia said. Evil finally bothered to glance at her and was surprised to find she'd been crying – her cheeks were stained and her eyes were bloodshot. She snorted, turning away in an attempt to hide her shame, but Evil didn't bother to say anything about it. He was simply surprised that the skunk seemed to care about anyone other than that hyped-up squirrel.

"I'll look around outside," Evil said. Flippy opened his mouth to protest, but Evil only ignored him and headed out the door. He gestured a hand to the large bag of food. "Handy, you get that. Flippy get the barrow down by the stairs. I'll search around the tree."

The bear with the large teeth grinned as he heard an indignant huff behind him, probably from the beaver, before he managed to slip away into the harsh outside world again. Snow instantly stung any exposed surface, but those were few other than his face. Evil had made sure to go out with thick networks of clothes all over his body, and though he'd stripped a few once entering the building he still had enough layers to keep himself relatively warm.

Evil went around the house counter-clockwise, checking the forests surrounding the clearing a few feet in, calling for the red porcupine. He'd been calm inside, but the bear was displeased to find that he was actually a bit worried about what had happened to the female. He was surprised as well to find her missing – she wasn't one to run away, he didn't think, though he had to admit she'd been under a lot of pressure lately. As Evil searched around he wondered what could have happened.

Sleepwalking? No, that had never come up before. Maybe she'd been kidnapped? But by what, Evil asked himself, mentally giving his thoughts a punch in the gut. That was just his battle paranoia starting up again. It seemed to get worse whenever he stepped outside.

Eventually Evil made it to the right side of the hospital, and there he saw something actually interesting. There seemed to have been a tiny earthquake, like Flippy said, because the large, stupid moose's truck was gone. At first Evil couldn't see it because snow had fallen into the hole, but as he draw closer he could see the front of it sticking out like a sinking ship from the ground. The bear ran closer. Pausing, he listened very carefully, through the snow and wind. There were sounds; they were dull thuds, cushioned beneath the inches of snow. Evil fell to his knees and began digging around the front of the truck.

The process was slow, as the snow had swiftly turned to ice beneath the coldness of the night and Evil had to use his machete to cut through the remaining layers. Once he got to the front window of the car, he could see what was making the noise.

It was Flaky. She looked battered and bloodied, her hands had bits of glass sticking out of the palms and wrists, and he saw deeps scratches going along her yellow underbelly, but it was her face which alarmed him most. She was the epitome of panic – her eyes were wide and her entire body was shaking. Tears were collecting at the edges of her lids as she pounded desperately against the glass. Something moved behind her.

Flaky finally noticed Evil, as if fear had been obscuring her vision. She called his name and he could hear it through the thin glass.

Just then the thing behind Flaky pulled – Evil hadn't seen it wrap a hand around her ankle, and Flaky screamed. She was dragged between the front seats, but she was using claws Evil had never seen to cling onto the passenger seat for dear life. Evil growled deeply in his throat and tried using his machete to break through the glass. The tip drove through, but it didn't shatter.

Flaky's grip slipped. She screamed again as she was dragged almost into darkness, tears streaming down her face. She was kicking, trying to wriggle out of the grasp of her capture, but Evil was shocked when a large, purple hand suddenly slid through and took hold of Flaky's long red hair. The porcupine tensed and the hand flinched away; she'd used the spikes hidden within her locks to denture the creature and kicked again. But the hand simply placed itself against her back and gently pulled her away from the seat.

Evil was punching against the glass now, and with each impact he could feel the glass give way beneath his fists. Just as Flaky's form was pulled into darkness, Evil's right hand finally broke through, and the bear tore it back out before throwing himself against the glass again, making sure to grab hold of his knife before doing so. His body weight crushed the glass below him, and the bear tumbled into the half-hidden vehicle.

Evil landed roughly between the two seats, but, ignoring any injuries from the glass, he twisted himself so that he fell between the front seats and slid straight down into the back of the truck. Bits of glass crunched beneath his boots as the bear landed beneath ground, and he looked up, green eyes flashing.

Flaky was being dragged away by the same oversized beaver that Evil had seen eating their food only a few nights ago. The creature heard him approach and made a groaning sound before picking Flaky up off the ground. Screaming, the porcupine's hair was sticking out in all directions, but the quills were simply too small to keep the beaver away. The creature placed her torso in his mouth and gently held it against his lips with this oversized teeth. Flaky was shaking too uncontrollably to try to fight back.

There was another creature, Evil saw, with a large club covered in ice. The creature was smiling, and as Evil approached, knife twirling in his right hand, the frosty creature charged, club swinging.

Evil used his machete to deflect the attack, and grabbed a fistful of the enemy's hair. He smashed his knee in to the opponents face and then used the blunt of his knife to knock the creature out, leaving him lying unconscious in the dirt behind him. Evil smirked, slowly walking towards the beaver which held Flaky in its jaws.

The beaver had gotten much larger since Evil had last seen him, almost by six feet, and hardly fit in the tunnel; it was hunched over, and the creature's mouth wasn't too high above Evil's head. Flaky was still struggling, but her efforts were sluggish and weak – she'd lost too much blood from the gashes on her stomach and Evil was aggravated when he saw the how pale she was slowly becoming. He needed to get her out fast.

The bear leapt, but the beaver was surprisingly swift and turned, hitting the bear with the side of his large tail. Evil crashed against the side of the tunnel; the window as knocked out of him and he was pretty sure one or two ribs had been broken beneath the massive weight. The war bear didn't give up, however, and skillfully threw his machete at the beaver's face, managing to catch it right in the eye.

The creature screamed in pain, effectively dropping Flaky from its jaws. The porcupine landed roughly against the ground on her stomach, but Evil was already up, pushing her onto her shaky feet. "Out, now! Tenemos que ir rápido!"

Flaky obeyed, and ignoring the pain they both hurried past the unconscious creature and back to the truck. Evil managed to push Flaky up first, and watched the porcupine climb through the front window first before starting his way up.

Only to have the stupid beaver wrap a massive paw around his waist.

"¡Mierda!" Evil turned to face the creature. The knife was still sticking out of his eyeball and bleeding heavily, but it didn't seem nullified – if anything, Evil had only succeeded in making it angry. The beaver growled lightly and tugged Evil away from the truck before scooping up his companion. The purple beaver turned and started for the end of the tunnel.

"Evil!"

"¡Corre!_" _Evil gritted his teeth but managed to make a shooing motion at Flaky before she left his vision. He shouted, "Get back into the hospital! Tell Flippy! Don't come after me!"

"Evil!"

"_Do not come after me_, Flaky!"

Evil allowed himself to be carried away, and Flaky's cries followed him down into the cold, where the darkness smelled of dust and wind.

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**I apologize if any of the Spanish phrases are inaccurate, but most are unimportant anyway...**

**Review, please, I'd love you forevah! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Well, here we are again. It's always such a pleasure XD.**

**I know it's been quite a while since I've updated, but I've been busy - going though a very stressing move to South Carolina, then _back _to Jacksonville for school... so yeah, I've been busy! Not to mention another one of _these _came up:**

_**UM...YEAH. JUST SO YOU KNOW IMMA GIRL&I DO HAVE A ACCOUNT BUT ITS NOT UNDER THIS NAME SO DON'T GO LOOKING FOR ME. =P I AM NOT GOING READ CH 20 BECAUSE ITS SO OFF THE PLOT! ITS NOT EVEN AT THE FREAKING HOSPITAL! FLAKY IS NOT IN IT. THE ONLY REASON WHY I AM READING THIS STORY IS BECAUSE FLIPPY&FLAKY! MY FAVORITE PAIRING! AND YOU JUST REMOVE THAT CHAPTER OFF THE STORY. =P**_

_** - FXFCRAZIEZ**_

**Charming, isn't it? **

**But I'm in too good a mood to be angry (which is odd, because I just finished the Book Thief and HOLY JESUS THAT BOOK MADE ME SAD. I cried. Really hard . It was such a good book... Also, on the note of the Book Theif, I'd like to mention in advance that the style of this chapter might be a little strange. I was probably influenced by the books own style of narration) so I won't rant about it.**

**Anyway, I'm just going to write this chick off as a troll, so there's no use letting her idiotic comments bother me. I just wanted to let her know that comments like hers are very disrespectful, especially when it's to someone whose work you like to read and appreciate. An apology would be nice. (Also, if you wouldn't mind, could you re-state that final sentence? Your horrible grammar - or rather, your lack thereof - makes it difficult to understand. If you're going to leave an offensive comment, it might as well be one I can read correctly).**

**And with that happy note *coughsarcasmcough*, here's Chapter 22 of Blissfully Ill.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy, my lovelies :3**

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Chapter 22

For the longest while, all she could do was stare. The snow battered her, tugging at her fur, trying to lead her away from the empty, silent hole in the ground. Flaky stayed. It was not until she lost feeling in her toes and fingertips that the porcupine was able to move.

She climbed to her feet.

"Evil?"

There came no answer. Only the whisper of what had once been there.

Flaky's body was shivering uncontrollably, and it seemed as if her body was convulsing, the spasms shook her so. The sound of wind and chattering leaves filled her ears…

Slowly, Flaky headed for the hospital-tree, despair slowly consuming her.

She didn't notice how warm it was inside. Her attention was caught by Flippy. She thought that he shouldn't be out of bed; it was silly of him to be walking around with only his thin clothes and a small blanket. He needed to get back upstairs. The same thought accounted for Petunia, who was also walking around, hunched over, a few coughs escaping her mouth as they called and chattered. Who were they looking for?

Oh. Probably her.

"I'm here," Flaky said, her voice week and aimless. _I'm very lightheaded,_ Flaky thought to herself, ignoring Flippy's words of relief and question when he finally noticed the red female standing in the icy doorway. Pulling her in, he said something to Petunia, and the squirrel closed the front door.

_Don't forget Evil_, Flaky thought, her face frowning when Flippy coaxed her unresponsive body to sit down. "Wait, no, he's not following," the porcupine muttered to the table before her. She could just see Handy clumsily going through a large pile of bagged and canned food. The beaver glanced over his shoulder, nodding at Flaky and offering a small smile before turning back to his work.

"What?" Flippy asked. His voice dripped with worry. Flaky's body was rigged, her skin and fur deathly cold. How long had she been out there by herself? She could have died. "Did you say something, Flaky?"

"Evil…" The porcupine closed her eyes and whimpered, her expression similar to that of a child who had forgotten something important and couldn't remember. "He went for food…"

Her body started shaking again, this time not from the cold, though that worried Flippy too. The war bear quickly instructed Petunia to fetch more blankets, and he pulled a chair to sit beside Flaky. "Flaky? I want you to listen. I think you're going into shock."

"Shock?"

Flippy nodded, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Yes Flaky. I think something happened and you're a little surprised by it. Did anything happen when you went outside? There was an earthquake and it woke some of us up – did you feel it?"

"There was no earthquake," Flaky muttered. Flippy frowned, but he was actually very pleased. The light, distressed tone was replacing the dead, confused one. She was coming back to life.

"Yes there was," Flippy insisted. He wanted to keep Flaky talking, and when Petunia returned with a small armful of blankets he carefully wrapped them about Flaky's shivering frame, rubbing her arms as he spoke. "It was outside. Why were you outside, Flaky?"

"It wasn't an earthquake," Flaky stated, her voice holding more force. It was Flippy's turn to be confused, and Petunia was standing behind him, fingers wringing with worry.

"It was… Evil." Flaky's tone faded as she said Evil's name, as if memories were coming back and she needed to stay silent so she could hear them. Her ears twitched. Her scarlet eyes slowly widened when she realized what had happened less than ten minutes ago. "Evil. They took him."

Fear. It was coming back, and for once it wasn't irrational. Flaky embraced it, for it spurred the porcupine on. "There was something outside. Evil, he went out to get food earlier… There was some sort of attack, you remember? There was no more food, and Evil… he volunteered to go out and get more. I'd fallen asleep at some point…"

"You fell asleep on the stairs," Flippy told her. "Don't you remember? I brought you back down here, and Handy fixed the door. You were half asleep the whole time."

"I woke up," Flaky continued, nodding to him, "and you were gone. There was a fire. The fire was going out, and I didn't want it to go out, it was so warm. I went outside."

Petunia shook her head, a worried frown etched in her forehead. She obviously didn't like the fragmented way Flaky was telling her story. "Why would you go outside if you didn't want the fire to go out?"

"I wanted a match," Flaky said. Her posture was straightening now. "I went out to Lumpy's truck to find a lighter or match…"

Her voice faded. Flaky closed her eyes and whimpered again, leaning forward into one of the blankets. She slowly remembered the earth shaking beneath her, the truck falling back and into the ground, her body being flung backwards and through the glass. Those glowing eyes in the darkness. The cold hand on her ankle.

"Flaky?" Flippy's voice was gravely but soft. The green bear took her cheek and whipped away some of her tears, gently looking at her when she opened her eyes. He said, "Flaky, what happened to Evil?"

She muttered something that no one could catch, and then her mind collapsed.

XxXx

In all of the time she'd spent in the hospital, Flaky hadn't had any coherent dreams. She'd remember snippets of colors, maybe characters who had played a part in her imagination, but never anything important or specific. However, when Flaky woke up nearly two hours later, with Flippy, Petunia, Handy, Mrs. Giggles and a disgruntled and very tired Sniffles sitting around her, there was a thought, an image, which stuck to her conscious.

"Evil… Voices…"

Her mutters were not understood, but Flippy had heard her voice. The bear ended his discussion with Sniffles and twisted in his chair, eyes glistening with worry and relief. "Flaky?"

"I had a dream," she muttered, trying to sit up. Her body loudly protested, and she only managed to get to her feet with shaky limbs and a few audible grunts. Flippy followed her, trying to push her back down. "No, Flaky, you're not in any kind of condition to be walking around. Sniffles said–"

"Sniffles shouldn't be out of bed," Flaky told him, a frown painted across her mouth. The accused anteater frowned somewhat guiltily at her words, but the porcupine wasn't focused on him at the moment. She tried pushing Flippy away, finding his touch constricting. "Let me go. I need to see Splendid and Nutty."

"They're both asleep," Petunia stated, following Flippy as he chased after Flaky, who was making her way up the stairs as quickly as her body would allow her. "Nutty hasn't woken up for days, you know that!"

"I'll talk to Splendid then," Flaky stated desperately, her body finally responding to the urgency of her realization. The moved swiftly up the stairs, forcing Flippy, Petunia, and now Sniffles to hurry after her. The anteater himself was having issues getting upstairs, but called after his friend. "Flaky, it's not safe for you to be moving so much. Your body is too exhausted!"

At this, Flaky stopped. Everyone behind her halted as well, uncertain if Sniffles' words had brought Flaky to her senses. Hesitantly, Petunia asked, "Flaky, are you alright?"

With a surprising amount of energy, Flaky twisted around, nearly flying down the stairs, and stopped right in front of Sniffles. Her face was twisted with concern and anger. "Why? Why don't you ever _listen _when I tell you to stop?"

"What?"

"You know what!" Flaky broke into tears. "I _told_ you to stop working so hard, I told you to rest, but no, you had to ignore me and keep working and _collapse_, and leave me to worry over you when you were asleep. Do you know how upset I was? I was the only one who could take care of _anybody_… If you'd just listened, it never would have happened!"

"Flaky, I–"

"And you should _still _be in bed! Why would you get out of bed and start working after what happened? Are you stupid? I thought you were dead!"

They were all stupefied. No one could say anything. But Flaky wasn't done yet. The words were already out, and she wasn't in the mood for restraint. She allowed her frustration to break free.

"If you had just _listened_ to me_, _maybe _I _wouldn't be so tired, and maybe _I _wouldn't be falling asleep every five minutes, and maybe _I _wouldn't have to worry about my body being tired because if you'd _just listened to me_, maybe _you _could have found a damn cure for this damn disease so we could all go home and I wouldn't have to keep babysitting you!"

Before she could even feel sorry for saying it, Flaky stomped back upstairs, down the hallway to the heavy ward. She left two speechless Happy Tree Friends behind.

One continued to follow.

Flaky threw open the door, not even trying to keep from making any noise. She flipped the light switch and scanned the room. Spotting Splendid's bed, she stomped over to the sugar-glider, roughly shaking his limp body until his eyes finally opened. "Huh? What?"

"Wake up Splendid," Flaky snapped. The tone of voice didn't match up with her face, and Splendid forced his body to sit up. He was too shocked not to comply.

"When you and Nutty and Lumpy were Reborn," the porcupine continued, ignoring as Flippy barged into the ward, awaking a few other sleeping animals, "you all said something about being in a dream, right?"

"Yeah…?" Splendid said, his voice still weak and raspy from sleep.

"And some things were the same in all three of your dreams. Splendid, do you remember _anything _about your dreams? Voices, figures… monsters? Anything?"

The desperate and urging tone was enough to force the flying hero to really concentrate. By now others were sitting up, despite their headaches and coughing, and most seemed relatively sane. Flippy was soothing a confused Giggles, but kept an ear turned to Flaky and Splendid's discussion.

"Um… yeah. There were lights, and a cave, maybe." Splendid closed his eyes, holding back a round of hot sneezes and coughs. His next words came as constricted gasps. "We saw two blobs talking in a language we couldn't understand. Nutty didn't remember blobs, just lights. And… Lumpy said something about black and white colors. I don't know; why is it important?"

Flaky said nothing, moving away from the bed and clasping her hands worriedly, trying to think. Two figures. Maybe the monsters? No, no, Splendid had said they were talking in the dream, and the monsters hadn't said a word when they attacked Flaky.

Flaky suddenly remembered something. That giant beaver… He had looked familiar. So did the other creature, the one with the blue skin and the club. Why did they remind her of something… or someone…?

A purple beaver…

Oversized teeth…

"Flaky?" Flippy made his way over, gently touching her shoulder.

"Toothy."

"What?"

Flaky felt a jolt run through her body, and her mind was assaulted with shallow memories, of a beaver who wore a smile, with purple fur and a gap between his teeth. She remembered a few of his deaths, even. He had been here, at the hospital, when no one knew how serious this disease truly was. He'd been there. His name was Toothy.

She knew him.

"Flaky!" Flippy had lost his patience, it seemed, and moved in front of Flaky. He held the porcupine's shoulders, shaking her gently until she finally focused on his face. "Flaky, _please _tell me what's going on here? Where is Evil? What is so important about Splendid's death?"

"Evil was taken, I _told _you!" Flaky said, wriggling beneath the bear's firm grasp. "That monster beaver and another creature took him. I remember the beaver… Do you remember Toothy?"

Flippy tilted his head curiously, and the others all frowned, muttering the name under their breaths, like it was the name of a long forgotten food or book. "Toothy? He… he sounds kind of familiar, but I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone named Toothy. Do you?"

"Yes, yes we do!" Flaky's body jittered with excitement. "Toothy took Evil. They took him underground, in the hole the truck made. If… if Splendid did dream something… maybe it wasn't a dream."

"What?" Flippy shook his head, frowning deeply, trying to move Flaky to a bed. "Flaky, I think you need to sit down."

"No!" Flaky realized that something was terribly wrong, and a horrible feeling was creeping up her spine. "What if it's not just the beaver and the other thing? What if there're more creatures?"

"Flaky!" Flippy forced his voice to be assertive, commanding, and luckily his tone made Flaky pause. He was honestly very disturbed by what the porcupine was saying, the way the words jumbled from her mouth, how strained her face was with worry and fear and exhaustion. "You're tired. You need to rest. I don't know what you're talking about, but maybe if you tell me what happened to Evil I can go get him. Did he fall into the hole you mentioned?"

"He was taken!" Flaky shouted, her voice strained with excitement and anger. _Why _didn't anyone ever _listen? _"I saw him get taken away! He saved me from the creatures and they took him underground!"

The porcupine shoved Flippy back, and when his grip still held, she twisted, spiking up her quills and fell down against him. Flippy cried out in pain as small quills cut into his chest and stomach. He released Flaky, allowing the red porcupine to roll off of the floor and fly out of the doorway and down the stairs. He angrily tugged the ends of the quills from his body, scowling at the blood which stained his fur.

"She's gone crazy," Shifty muttered, shaking his head and staring wide-eyed at the doorway. His brother, who apparently knew who he was that night, nodded in agreement. "Yeah. She's really flaky now, huh?"

XxXx

Downstairs, Flaky was pacing up and down the hallway between the stairs and the kitchen. Sniffles and Petunia had moved back into the kitchen, and she could hear their voices intermingling with Ms. Giggles and Handy's own ponderous chatter.

What was she supposed to do now? What did those dreams mean? She faintly recalled tiny snippets, shapes and colors, which had faded away upon waking from her own dreams. She'd forgotten about them at the time, because they made absolutely no sense and she couldn't remember the full dream anyway. But now…

Why had they dreamed so clearly in death? Dreaming during Rebirth had never been heard of, so why now? While sleeping earlier, Flaky swore she'd dreamed of Evil in a cave, with two voices wrapping around his figure like ropes, their fur blindingly bright, and casting shadows in her view.

And then a thought.

A crazy, stupid thought.

On that was too crazy, too stupid to even think about working.

But…

Did she have another choice?

In a way, Flaky felt a sick tickle growing in her stomach as she marched quietly out of the hallway. She ignored Flippy's footsteps, his calls from upstairs, as she entered the kitchen. Everyone turned to say something, but the look on her face – the calm, resolute, desperate look – forced their voices to pause. Her actions led her to a drawer.

Flaky entered the room as she pulled open the silverware drawer and rummaged through for a few seconds. Then she pulled out a knife. A nice, long, sharp knife that glinted in the plastic kitchen lights.

"Flaky."

The porcupine was shaking again; this time it wasn't from her shock, or even the cold. It was from fear, and excitement, and a horribly, horribly deep feeling of hope.

Please let this be the answer.

Flaky turned around and put the knife to her throat.

Flippy was frozen at the doorway, his eyes wide as he watched Flaky contemplate killing herself. The others were silent too, eyes reflecting the image of the blade, which shook against Flaky's body. It grinned at them like a naughty child. The silver contrasted so nicely against Flaky's bright, red fur.

"Don't do it, Flaky."

His voice was a plead.

Flaky shook her head, closed her eyes, and with one more shock of absolute fear, she dug the knife into her throat and pulled her arm away.

She could taste the metal.

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**If you love me (and fast updates), you should comment :D.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Okay, I'll try not to ramble on for half the fic, promise!**

**First of all, I am so, _so sorry_ that this took so long to come out. It's been more than a year, and I'm really disappointed with myself for not getting on this quicker! I felt so bad whenever someone sent me a lovely review for this, asking for more, and I never responded or updated. You guys are really wonderful fans! I do this for you guys I love y'all ;A; **

**And to that one reviewer who said I wasn't gonna come back to this: HAH. I TOLD YOU I WAS GONNA COME BACK BUT Y'ALL DIDN'T BELIEVE ME**

**Doesn't matter how long it takes! I _will_ finish this fic!**

**It really helps that I've finally actually got a really solid idea of how I want this to end. There should only be two more chapters, including the epilogue, so expect a really long chapter next time. It might take a while for me to put it out, but I'll try my best to get it out before next year :'D **

**Thank you guys, I love you all, and please enjoy the read! **

**(it's been a while, so my style is a little iffy, and it took some time for me to get back into things. Sorry if this chapter seems really different and a little off-style!)**

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Fire. That was the only sensation he felt for hours. Or maybe it had been days… Months? Evil didn't have any idea, not anymore. His sense of time was gone, lost in the endless fire.

Darkness and fire – a hot, irritating burning that gnawing into scarred, bleeding flesh. His mind was heavy, too, distracted by a constant flow of odd noise. Evil had encountered many strange languages during the war – General tiger was not picky about who murdered for him – but this murmuring in his mind branded itself into any conscious thought that he could summon; it was like nothing he'd ever encountered before. It rang of dust and earth soiled with rot. Twisted and unnatural.

Every once in a while, with enormous effort, Evil would regain some sort of consciousness for short periods of time. It was on one such occasion that Evil finally opened his eyes. When his brain awoke to try and figure out where he was, he could hardly keep his mind awake, for all the pain that gripped him. His entire mid-body was bound by something strong, which dug into his exposed arms and stomach mercilessly. His shirt was torn into ribbons, and bloodied strips of white hung uselessly on shoulders rubbed raw against the solid rock surface he was bound to. It took several long, painful minutes for Evil to conserve enough strength to lift his head in an attempt to assess his surroundings.

Mostly, there was darkness, and a sense he was in a very large, mostly empty area. Beneath ground, for sure. There came, along with the natural sense, a wave of dread that sunk deeply into Evil's tattered fur, and clamped onto his bones. Beyond this broken darkness, something lay in wait.

Suddenly, Evil saw something he hadn't taken care to notice before - there was a person, or creature, standing before him and slightly to the right. Very large, fluffy white paws, with onyx pads and curved black talons reached out at him, and there was a voice... That deep, chaotic voice, that spoke words of twisted curses and offensive rhymes. Evil struggled against his binds, hating that voice, wanting to tear the creature's throat out to silence it.

"He's still awake?" This voice, disembodied, came from deeper within the belly of oppressive shadows. It was smooth, and sharp, but with a dangerously cold edge that caused Evil to hesitate a moment. There was an assured sense of power and control in that voice... The bear instantly understood that someone who spoke with such confidence and apathy must be delt with carefully.

The first voice, in comparison, sounded very wild as it spoke in a language Evil could comprehend. There was less of the grating; Evil could now detect that her gender was female, and she was a fast speaker, with a broken grasp on idea of speaking clearly. Many of her words tumbled over themselves, breaking apart near the middle or ends of syllables. It was quite a feat, and made it extremely difficult for Evil to completely understand what she said.

"Oi, yeah, 'ey still awake!"

"You've been at him for days - why isn't he under our control yet?" asked the cold voice. There was a threat behind this, but also a playful sort of nudge, an attempt to incite conflict.

The white-pawed female took the bait quickly, hissing angrily - was she a feline then? "Shuddit! He's not like 'em other uns! 'Ey got a strong will an' sense of sel' and he weren't frozen in a block of ice for near thous'nd years!" The female's dialect crumbled further as she spoke. She seemed to be walking away from Evil now, towards her companion. "Ain' no dumb ol' beaver ain't neither who ain't take three seconds to ferget! Easier grow'n 'ey up th'n wipe a sharp 'un clean..."

"Excuses, excuses, my foolish sister," said the other voice, now obviously male, in its purr and tone - Evil suspected it was also a cat of some sort. The war bear struggled again, but carefully this time, assessing possible weakness, or a chance to escape. There was visible exit, and it seemed as if earth itself had wrapped itself over Evil's arms, pulling his torso into the curved surface of a rock wall. His camouflage pants and jacket were dirtied, but not nearly as bad as his shirt, which seemed to have been purposefully shredded to expose his collarbone and stomach.

Another round of angry hisses, and hushed, heated breaths. Evil couldn't hear what the words were exactly, but picked up enough of the statement to make a guess - the female was angry at something for 'disrupting the flow'. It made little sense to Evil, but the male voice scoffed.

"That's hardly a matter which should interfere with your spell. We have enough power to soon release ourselves - why is it you can't ignore the death of a feeble, useless creature without it throwing you off?"

More arguing, and perhaps a violent scuffle or two, for Evil heard a disturbance, with hissing and flesh meeting flesh. Figuring this may be his only chance at attempting to escape, Evil wriggled, his movements calculated to allow him just enough room from the earth which held him. His elbows were nearly free before two shining, evil red eyes caught him by the brow.

"I wouldn't move." The voice was cold, and male, and rumbled with warning. Evil froze and stared, his guard held steadily, but he did not sink back into his current position.

"'Ey awake?" The female came, and Evil's eyes must have adjusted in the dim lighting, for he could see her form much more easily.

She was a breed Evil most certainly was not familiar of, but she looked like a sort of white, fluffy leopard. Her body, like his, and those of the Happy Tree Villagers, had changed to a somewhat-humanoid shape - small waist, large breasts, and large paws and feet. Her eyes were a spiral of all colors - amber, auburn, green, blue, and grey, all swirling together in a disorderly vortex. Her entire being seemed to exude a cold air; her breath, skipping along Evil's bleeding, scarring wounds, smelt of mountains, and felt like the biting winds of a blizzard. A tingle of odd sensation ran up Evil's spine, crouching at the base of his neck. It was a sharp, chaotic sting, and it was painful, but gripped his shoulders and gnawed into his flesh, making him shiver in an effort to control his actions.

"W-what are you...?" Evil asked through clenched teeth. The feline before him laughed. A long, bushy tail curled from behind her, resting at her feet as she grinned. Small black roses blossomed on her otherwise pure white pelt, decorating her face and limbs, back and tail; the light, streaming from a hole in the ceiling, was small, but seemed to stream to her pelt, lacing through her fur and making her almost... glow. She seemed almost beautiful...

Her claws extended to their full length, and curved, black knives sunk into the earth behind him. The leopard's face drew close to his, and frozen breaths blew through sharp, hungry teeth. "Ain't non'ya business, is it?" she hissed. Childish giggles bubbled from her chest. Evil briefly wondered if she was insane.

The male figure emerged from the darkness, to Evil's left, and the war bear knew for sure his species. The tall, sleek figure, with bleeding red eyes, was a black leopard. Against the reflection of blue light, his spots were nearly visible beneath a solid black pelt. The solid color of his body made it difficult to discern any definate emotions, but his eyes seemed almost amused. "Don't kill him yet, sister," the male said, with a wave of his elegant hand. "We shall need his skill and bloodlust for our escape."

An annoyed snort from the female - a mist of snot was blown into Evil's cheek as she growled. "'Ey know that, bastard!"

"Who are you?"

They silenced and stared at Evil. The bear had been in many near-death situations, but none were so bizarre, and none seemed so inescapable. He knew nothing, and the only way he could possibly escape is if he knew something. Perhaps his captors knew this and would say nothing, but there was no sense in not trying.

Finally, the dark one spoke. "We are creatures beyond your comprehension," he stated simply. "We are gods, and higher beings, and it is your duty to serve us."

Evil worked up enough energy to scoff, spitting on the ground in disobedience. "Two bickering kitties like you, gods? Don't make me-"

A white claw clamped against the bear's throat, nearly breaking his airpipe then and there. The snowy white leopard glared at him with wide, swirling green eyes. "SILENCE! We are the fire and earth that consumes you, the wind and water that drown you! We have spread famine and war and disorder and death throughout the world before you were even a thought!"

She made to slice Evil's throat, digging her claws into the flesh that connected his throat and shoulder, but one of her round ears twitched. Her attention almost instantly remove itself from him, and she twisted, standing, to stare into the darkness. "D'ya feel it?" she asked quietly.

"Yes. It's just the porcupine," said the black leopard. Evil's brain froze, and his heart stopped. He couldn't be talking about Flaky, could he? Damn it! He told the girl not to follow him!

But this didn't seem the case, for while the female kept staring, the male turned back to Evil. "We are war, and we are chaos, and that's all you need to know," he explained calmly. "Our reign shall forever rule - our powers stretch far, and our horsemen ride to spread famine and death, war and vermin across this earth. But our spirits..." the leopard gestured to himself, "what you see here, were unjustly banished and imprisoned in this land. But do not fret." That thin, evil smile appeared on his face, shining teeth a blinding white amidst the blackness of his form. "Soon, you and your friends will set us free from the barrier which contains us. And once we devour the souls of your friends, we will have enough power to finally take over."

Dread, and disbelief. Evil almost wanted to laugh in the leopards' faces. What, he was supposed to believe they were gods? Trapped beneath a giant tree in a town full of insane animals? "Tu es loco," he grumbled, but did little else. Already, he had run out of energies. He begrudgingly accepted that escape was futile.

The female twitched, growling. "Send 'ey away! I don't wanna see it! 'Ey keeps flyin' 'round me, wrin'in' its hands! Damn bitch porcupine..."

With a wave of his hand, the dark leopard seemed to calm his female counterpart, though he rolled his eyes. As he strode back into the shadows, far beyond Evil's vision, he stated, "Get back to work. We need him. Crack open his skull and control his will, and we shall be free of this place. The time has come."

* * *

Flaky awoke very slowly. It felt as if she were lying on her back, head submerged in tar, and she was trying to pull her head free of the thick, rancid goo. Her subconscious slowly bubble to the surface, and the darkness of her mind lifted.

This was the sensation, awakening from death. You felt as if you were swimming up, slowly bringing your senses back to life. They would come, one by one - usually smell, then sight, then touch. Being birthed back into life.

So when Flaky awoke, she was not surprised to find that she was alone. The light of an early sunset cloaked her room in warm, sparkling drapes, revealing dust motes as they floated and swirled above the porcupine's head. Eyes half open, Flaky breathed in, deeply and slowly. Frantically, she worked to keep her thoughts solid. She dared not move. On the outside, she was calm; a beauty awoken from sleep, given the kiss of another life. Inside, the was the old Flaky, shivering and panicking in terror.

They were coming.

The door to the infirmary burst open suddenly, making Flaky leap from her bed. She tumbled roughly onto the cold and sterile floor, shoulder falling painfully to catch her body's weight. Wide eyed, the porcupine wanted to run, to run and hide, and tears filled her eyelids. A thousand thoughts at what could be attacking mauled her mind, paralyzing her; a thousand scenarios on how she would die in the next few seconds. Would it be decapitation? Would it be due to her treacherous spines once again? She might be stabbed, gouged, thrown out the window...

"Flaky! Oh thank god, Flaky!"

Many voices came to circle Flaky. The porcupine suddenly stilled, closing her eyes. She worked hard to control the stupid, irrational fear that had consumed her, the fear which drew tremors from within her. No. No, this was the old Flaky! The one that was always afraid... Flaky didn't want to be her again... She fought, and slowly, she won.

"Flaky, are you alright? Please say you're okay..."

Flaky opened her eyes to see a green hand, shaking, outstretched before her. Following the arm, she looked into Flippy's honey-golden eyes, wide with anxiety, and lined with worry. A blanket draped over his shoulders, and deep purple bags bruised his cheekbones, but he seemed a little better than when Flaky had last seen him. The porcupine took his hand, and her chest burst with happiness at knowing his touch again. She remembered now what she had done, and guilt filled her body throughout.

"I'm fine," she whispered, her voice still weak. Looking around, Flaky noticed Petunia and Sniffles where there as well. The anteater looked a lot better than before, but not any less sickly. Petunia seemed quite frazzled - her fur stuck up in all places, and she smelt very bad, her air-fresh necklace gone from her neck. The skunk touched Flaky's shoulder worriedly.

"Are you sure?" That was Flippy, who now held Flaky close to him, helping her regain balance in her legs. He rested his chin on the porcupine's forehead, careful of the tiny spines hidden beneath her mane of red hair.

"How long...?" Flaky asked.

"Four days," Sniffles stated quickly. "You... killed yourself three and a half days ago. The sun is setting, so it's been four days." The anteater's face folded into an expression of misery. He folded his large, clawed hands before him, head bowed. "I'm so sorry, Flaky. You were right, I should have listened to you from the start..."

"No, no, it's... it's fine, really," Flaky said dismissively. She hated seeing Sniffles down, after all he'd done for everyone, and felt a little bad for yelling at him all those days ago, but there was something else going on, something much more serious. It demanded attention, and explanation. How... how long ago was that dream? One day, maybe two?

"They're coming," she whispered into Flippy's white shirt, dirty with sweat and old bloodstains.

"Huh?" Flippy sat her down on the edge of the bed, holding her face in his hands. They looked into each other's eyes - one pair curious, the other slowly growing brighter with initiative. "Who's coming, Flaky? I... You were saying things the other day, too, and I..."

Flaky shook her head. The fear was coming back, and she was quickly loosing control of herself. "They're coming... now! Soon! I saw him, Evil, I saw him talking to these... these two creatures. Animals." Flaky closed her eyes, trying to remember. "They called themselves... gods. War, and famine, and... They said they were banished..." Flaky's voice faltered as she gazed at the faces of her friends. They all stared at her in subdued disbelief. They didn't believe her.

The porcupine pushed up from the bed, past Flippy, holding herself. "I saw them! You have to believe me... It wasn't a dream! They're doing something to Evil, and they said..." Memories came back, and Flaky whimpered, shivering. She fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she curled inward. They were all going to die, die, die, die.

Flippy shared a look with Petunia and Sniffles. Then, as the green bear took a step forward to try and console his red-furred friend, something happened. The first star appeared outside, and in that moment, a tremor shook beneath their feet. The four Friends stopped, ears collectively twitching at the low rumble that came from below. They were on the third floor of the hospital, but they could still feel it.

Before anyone could say anything, another rumble, more violent this time, knocked the three standing animals off their feet. Flaky looked up wildly, her body shivering with anticipation. Carefully, she navigated between the tremors and made it to a window. The sight outside stilled her breath.

The ground beneath the tree collapsed, and then exploded forth in a storm of earth and rock.

* * *

**All comments are extremely appreciated. **


	24. Chapter 24

**Woooooow**

**this chapter is craaaazy.**

**Okay, so first thing's first - hi again everyone! It's been a little while, yeah? *checks* About four or five months to be exact it seems, since the last chapter was uploaded. And for that I apologize! But Junior year is busy ^^;**

**Luckily for me AND for you guys, winter break is coming soon, and I'm seriously hoping to finish this story, if not during that time then in the next few months. Also, remember when I said last time there would only be two more chapters? Well things have changed my friends :'D**

**This chapter ended up becoming much longer than I initially anticipated (and a bit crazier than I imagined as well), so by my estimate there will be two more after this, perhaps even three, although I _really_ hope not ' But I think I'm getting back into the swing of the story, and the next chapter will be very action-y, a lot will be going on. Having written this chapter, it doesn't seem like such an impossible feat now... I think I'll managed to pull it off well enough!**

**Also, I didn't mention this on the previous post, and while it's on my main profile I feel like it'd be important for some of you to know: I have a tumblr. I'm on it all the time. I highly suggest that if you have a tumblr, you go bug me there if you want updates, or if you just want to talk. I'm much more available there than here. It's_ xxbloodsbane . tumblr . com_**

**Anyways, I've ranted long enough, just thought you guys could use a little update and some notes. Sorry if I sound more down-to-business and boring than usual, but I'm seriously about to fall asleep as I write this :'D So tired.**

**Here's chapter 24! Please enjoy~**

* * *

Chapter 24

It was hard to recall for Flaky if time had sped up or slowed down. From her spot against the window she witnessed an awesome creature burst from the earth beneath the roots of the hospital-tree. It was easily as tall as the tree, if not higher; strong purple shoulders, carpeted with matted, bloody fur, worked to uproot the beaver's body from its hiding place underground. Around him clots of earth and dead grass caved in, falling into the crater his emerging form had created, giving his small hind feet leverage to propel himself from the darkened pits. Flaky tried to remember the creature's name, who he really was - hadn't she known only yesterday? - but was too distracted staring at his giant, terrifying incisors.

Then her memories were little more than a stream of light and sound, shouting and color; voices belonging to her friends echoed through the senseless tunnel that seemed to lead downward. Flaky must have fainted then, because next thing she knew, she was in the basement, curled up between a crying Giggles and the busted heater. The basement was dank and brown, and was now soaked with the smell of sickness and fear. Sniffles sat at the base of the stairs; Petunia and Nutty were off in a far corner, as alone as the confined floor space would allow, with Petunia doing her best to keep her delusional squirrel companion quiet. Flaky blinked, amazed that everyone could have fit down here without stacking on top of each other, but taking a quick look around, she quickly noticed a gap in the headcount.

"Where's Flippy?" Flaky's voice, faint and scratchy, easily gained everyone's attention. "And the twins? And where's Cuddles and Mole and Handy?"

Sniffles stood, on his way to her side. Flaky continued counting; Flippy, Lifty, Shifty, Mime, Handy, Mole, Pop and Cub, Cuddles, Splendid, Disco Bear and Russell were all missing. Flaky took Sniffles' clawed hand, waxing scarlet eyes crying her distress.

"Try not to worry," Sniffles whispered to her, kneeling down in front of her and straightening out her loose shirt, dusting gravel and dirt from her knees. The ground was uneven, gritty, cold. "Lifty and Shifty had run off, I think, before we got to the infirmary. Cuddles, Handy and Mole had been in the kitchen, but I'm hoping they did the smart thing and went into my room."

A rumbling sound growled ominously above them, making Flaky and Giggles both cringe. Sniffles held onto Flaky's shoulders, sensing her fear and worrying she might become overwhelmed. He continued, his tone even in an effort to sooth her, "When we got everyone down here, Flippy-" Another boom, and a crash this time as well, like the entire kitchen was turned on its head. Voices were suddenly heard, and dusty silver light from upstairs flooded down into the basement.

Flaky couldn't see him from where she was, but she knew it would be Flippy at the top of the stairs. The porcupine cried out to him, trying to stand; Sniffles kept her down and against the wall. He then shifted, shielding her small form with his long arms and broad shoulders, and Flaky realized something was wrong. There was a deep creaking sound coming from all around. Like bones breaking beneath a merciless weight.

Pops flew down the stairs, a crying cub held up to his chest. Handy, Mole, and Cuddles followed, along with Russell, all scrambling after the older bear with arms over their heads, as if expecting the floor above them to shatter. The basement door slammed shut, and Flippy cried out, "Everyone, _get down!"_

Flippy couldn't make it down the stairs in time. Above them, the floors of the hospital really did crumble and crack, collapsing onto their heads. Flaky screamed, huddling against Sniffles, whose massive frame protected her from falling debris.

Dirty, cold light was their ceiling now. The few Friends who could lift their heads did so, and saw what had happened. Some incredible force had begun uprooting the hospital-tree. Enormous roots hung sprawled half in the air, like a spider's legs curling in death. The trunk of the tree, while not completely uprooted, tilted dangerously.

Flaky, shaken as she was - and in truth, to say she was merely shaken would be a horrible understatement - forced herself not to scream, not to writhe in panic. She needed to stay calm and not allow fear to overflow her and drown her concern for the others. She unfurled from her instinctual fetal position and nudged Sniffles' heavy arms. "Sniffles? I-I think y-you c-can move n-now." God, the stutter was back. She was even more frightened than she realized.

From her enclosed space inside Sniffles' solid arms, she could see little more than dirt and lumber, hear a few groans and the ominous rumbling above. Giggles had been diving for the base of the stairs - for Cuddles - when the downpour of earth and floor had occurred. Flaky could see the half-buried chipmunk from beneath Sniffles' shoulder, though she had no idea if her friend was crushed.

"Sniffles! Hurry, we have to help..." Flaky paused, hands against Sniffles' chest. The anteater, who had not responded yet, was leaning against Flaky with considerably more weight than she thought necessary. He was silent, his body limp, and Flaky noticed that he'd buried his long claws into the dirt wall behind her. His face and forehead were planted into the area directly above her head.

A shiver. Flaky finally noticed the blood-stained slab of concrete beside her, the expressionless gaze on Sniffles' face, the red liquid now soaking the fur of his neck.

"S-Sniffles?"

"Flaky!?"

The porcupine jolted, almost surprised to hear another voice. She wanted to look over Sniffles' shoulder to see Flippy, but fear of the gruesome wound on his head, most likely impaled, discouraged her from moving. The familiar scents of death were suffocating her. "Flippy!"

"Flaky! Flaky, are you alright? Where are you?"

Flippy's voice was shaken, frantic. He rummaged, limping slightly, making his way toward Sniffles' corpse. Without fear, the green war bear leaned over the anteater's shoulders to look down at his trembling friend. "Can you get out?" Flippy asked, eyebrows creased in worry.

Flaky looked around her. The areas on either side of Sniffles protective arms were covered with dirt and debris from the landslide - it was already crawling into Flaky's little space, surrounding her with dirt and broken cement. She shook her head at Flippy, breathing heavily.

Flippy smiled at her. He was covered with dirt and dust, and Flaky could see blood staining his lips and chin, but his eyes seemed so alive. Roughly, and with more strength than Flaky had expected to still reside in the sickly bear, Flippy pulled on Sniffles' dead weight. The anteater's body lurched, claws inching from their grip in the wall. Flaky watched hopefully, but cringed and hid her face, having caught a glimpse of Sniffles bleeding head wound.

Eventually, Flaky was free. Flippy was nudging Sniffles body to the side as Flaky lept onto her feet, catching the bear by his neck and shoulders. Flippy returned the hug, wrapping his arms around Flaky's weeping body. "Don't cry, Flaky, don't worry. It's..." The bear hesitated. Then his voice grew firm, and his embrace was lost. "Listen, we need to get everyone who's still alive out of here, and quickly. You didn't see that thing... _Things_."

Flaky shook her head. "Did anyone else make it?"

"Over here," came a mutter. Flaky and Flippy turned to see Russell, his entire bottom half covered and buried. His head and shoulders, however, were safe. The scruffy otter waved to them, then pointed beside his ear with a hooked hand. "I thinks there be a swabby buried next to me! I c'n hear 'em jabberin'!" The otter's voice, though strong, sounded oddly bubbly and hollow.

Flaky and Flippy got to work, digging up as many Friends as they could locate. They uncovered Cuddles and Mole, but Handy was dead - head injury, skull crushed, his hard-hat having flown from his head when he'd dived onto the ground. Mole seemed very... 'put out' about it, for lack of a more accurate term. The turtleneck wearing rodent kept silent and kept to himself.

Pop and Cub were dead and buried. Petunia and Nutty had been pretty safe in the corner, their arms wrapped around each other, heads down. They said nothing as Flaky quickly worked to uncover Russell's half-buried torso, but Flaky had hardly released him when she'd realized there was blood flooding from a wound at his chest. He'd been impaled by something. The porcupine looked up at her sea-sailing friend and realized he'd already fainted from blood loss. She didn't continue to dig.

"We can't waste any more time," Flippy said, dragging everyone over to rest by the far back corner, furthest from the stairs. Flaky had seated herself to rest beside Petunia. Part of her wanted to stand and be closer to Flippy, but she was so shaken, it had been difficult just to stay upright.

"What's wrong?" Flaky managed to ask, recalling Flippy's odd words earlier.

"What the hell is happening up there?" Cuddles asked, eyes wide and body trembling. "What's going on?"

There was a long, tense moment of silence. They all looked at Flippy, but the veteran bear seemed to be afraid even to speak. They heard large footsteps rumble above them, each almost as loud as a tremor. The ground above them shuddered, and debris fell onto their heads like snowflakes.

Eventually, Flaky shook his head. He was wearing little more than his usual tank top and camouflage pants, a dirtied towel resting askew across his hunched shoulders. Flaky could see in every aspect of him - the lines of his face, the bags under his eyes, the way his body hung on its joints, how his fur had grayed - that he was sick, and he had started to die. As Flaky quickly inspected the other living patients, she realized this to be true for them all. In the few days she'd been dead, they'd all begun to wither away, and it was terrifying to see that there was such a difference. She'd just been Reborn, but they'd been dying slowly and surely.

Flaky supposed it didn't matter now, though. They were all going to die, no matter how healthy or sick anyone was. She glanced almost absentmindedly at Sniffles' body, and a dry sob hiccuped in her chest.

Finally, Flippy spoke up. "It's... a giant beaver. I... I feel like I knew him. Like when it broke into the kitchens and ate all our food, I feel like I'd known that beaver before..." Flippy shivered. "Maybe that's why it was so haunting to see him like that. So large and... there were cuts on his entire body, but they looked like letters, like bleeding inscriptions. But that's not all. There were two more creatures."

Flaky's ears perked at this. She sat up straighter. "What did they look like?"

Flippy was visibly surprised by the sudden force in Flaky's voice, but didn't hesitate in his answer. "They looked like two cats. They were our size, not giants, standing on the beaver's head. They were laughing and... I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it looked like they were doing magic."

"Magic?" Petunia scoffed, but even that was half-hearted. "Are you serious?"

The bear nodded. "They were shooting things from their hands, pulling darkness and light out of thin air. They were destroying things. And I think they're looking for us."

At that moment, a sudden force of wind blew into the basement. All heads looked up to see the tree being moved again, and more light spilling in to unveil the renegade animals from sight. Flippy ducked down, kneeling beside Flaky, who gripped onto the bear tightly. Everyone tensed and unconsciously pulled back, away from the light and further together into the corner.

A large, purple hand found its way between the roots and broken kitchen floor. Nubby fingers, rubbed raw and bleeding heat, fumbled around. The hand itself was large enough easily to catch and hold three Friends within its palm, and the mere thought forced Flaky to look away, less the fear drive her to scream.

Flippy and the others watched as the purple and felt around, carefully. Far beyond, angry and excited voices could be heard, and they seemed to urge the hand on. Suddenly, its fingers grazed Giggles' lifeless body - Flaky glanced up just in time to see the hand curl around her, pulling the chipmunk's body from the earth and slowly carry the corpse out of the basement.

Flaky's body reacted faster than her mind could; she shot up from her hiding spot, pushing Flippy away, and dived across the basement to the stairs. She then crawled frantically up the broken wooden steps, leaping upward when there was no longer a path, her hands gripping onto the edge of the kitchen floor, now revealed above them.

"Flaky, what are you doing!" Petunia called in a harsh whisper. Flippy didn't call, but rather followed the insane red porcupine up the stairs, trying to catch up to her and convince her to stay put. But Flaky was already on her feet, and she quickly dived out of sight, looking for a place to peek outdoors without being seen.

The whole area was a distorted image of a previously familiar setting. The floor tiles of the kitchen had been peeled away and flung about like scabs, leaving patches of exposed dirt. Everything had been shaken from its rightful spot - pots and pans scattered, utensils littered the floor; the sink was broken, the door to the oven caved inward. The tree was tilted to its right, exposing the entire left side of the bottom floor to outdoor light, and an almost clear view of the far-off tree line. Flaky dared not venture out into the open, but rather shot for the staircase. Though tilted, she could still climb it if she pulled herself up by the handle.

Flippy had no time to call after the porcupine, and instead followed closely behind, helping Flaky as they made their trek upward. When they got to the third floor, Flaky immediately headed for a window. It was harder to walk up here, for the floors were slanted more steeply the higher they went. Flaky and Flippy had to hold onto doorknobs and frames to keep from sliding and crashing into the wall diagonal to them. Finally, they made it to a window they could reach, and the duo quickly pulled it open and peeked outside.

They could see the two creatures so clearly that Flaky almost flung herself away from the window, immediately afraid they themselves would be seen. The beaver was facing away from them though, and so were the two felines perched atop his head. They'd arrived just in time to hear the end of what must have been a disgruntled argument.

"...'Ain' no good t' us! If they ain' got no soul in th' body 'n ain' no way we gon' get any power out 'em! Th'r prolly got dere souls flyin' 'round like drunk-assed butterflys an' we c'nt reach 'em!"

This was the white one, a creature Flaky now recognized as some sort of leopard, and female. She remembered the disjointed, haphazard speech, the stinging of her switchblade tongue, and the way it seemed to contain more than one angry voice as she spoke. The other feline, black and sleek and quiet, replied in his cruelly cold voice.

"Shut up. Be calm. They can't have all died. We only need to consume a few of their souls to finally break away from this accursed spell they branded. Just have the beaver keep looking."

"Screw th' oversized wood chewer!" cried the female. Her fluffy tailed puffed up extravagantly in her annoyance. "Ahm' callin m' caveman, least he c'n get some work done!"

They continued on with their squabble. Flaky saw the beaver holding Giggles limp body up, as if presenting it to the felines bickering on his head. After a moment of arguing, the black one seemed to remember the chipmunk's body. He waved a paw, spoke something in a language Flaky couldn't even begin to recognize, and almost immediately after, the beaver tossed Giggle's body away like it was nothing.

Another brief order from the black one, and the giant beaver began his search again. Flaky realized he was slowly turning around, as did Flippy; they both pulled away from the window.

"What the hell is going on here," Flippy demanded, though Flaky knew he didn't expect an answer from her. "What are these things? What language were they speaking? In all my years in war I've never heard anything like it, nothing even close to it."

Flaky wasn't sure how to respond. She thought about her dream, though still hazy, and what those creatures had just said. An idea suddenly occurred within her head.

The porcupine was on the move again, even faster this time, which caused her to slip on the inclined floor once or twice. Flippy sighed in exasperation and followed her as they tried to make their way back downstairs. "Flaky, please, explain what's going on! Were these the two 'gods' you were talking about earlier?"

Flaky nodded. She said, "I think they're gods. I really, really think they're bad gods, or something, and they've been trapped here for a really long time. And I think they're going to kill anyone who isn't already dead."

They made it back to the kitchen floor and moved more carefully, talking in softer voices, though Flippy's was growing harsher. "What do you mean?"

Flaky shook her head, tears starting to form. She really didn't have any idea what was going on, but she had an extremely bad feeling, as well as an idea, one that reminded her of the one she'd had three days ago. She felt like she was going insane. She felt almost like Evil. "I m-mean they're g-gods, and they've b-been trapped, and I don't know why but they n-need to get more power, s-so they've been making us sick and feeding off of us."

Flaky blinked. Things... things were starting to make sense. Her voice was almost frantic as she continued to speak. "They were the ones who make us die all the time. But they needed us all in one place..." She thought about how the grass and trees were dead the closer they grew to the tree, but they seemed almost healthy beyond. Flaky thought about the early winter, and the odd days and nights, and how everyone's personal illnesses or mental issues seemed to be removed the longer they stayed, although their physical condition still deteriorated. "They were feeding off of us! They made us sick to keep us in one place, directly above them, so they could feed off of us and get stronger. But... they said something, something about someone banishing them here..."

Flippy was looking at Flaky like she'd grown another head. In a sudden fit of hysterical discontent, Flaky let out a harsh laugh at his expression. It seemed the more things made sense, the less they made sense, the less Flippy believed her, but the more Flaky believed herself. She really was going insane, wasn't she?

"And..." Suddenly the fear returned, ten-fold, pushing away the wired and crazy thoughts buzzing around Flaky's now electrified mind. "If they consume our souls, like they said they needed to, they'll kill us forever. They'll have us forever and we won't be able to be Reborn. Those who are already dead, they can't seem to consume them..." Flaky remembered now, being in the room with those two creatures, and with Evil - she remembered seeing him tied up and talking to them. The white one had seen Flaky, stared directly at her, but hadn't tried to eat her or anything - she'd simply had her black-furred partner to send the porcupine's spirit away.

That meant only one thing. There seemed no way to save everyone, to stop these creatures and their minions, but Flaky believed there might be a way to buy everyone some time.

She looked at Flippy straight in the eyes, taking a moment to drown in the worry and warmth of his golden irises. For a second they were alone, and Flaky was safe.

The porcupine spoke. "We… have to kill them."

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**Everyone knows I love me some comments~ They're welcomed and appreciated.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Well aren't you all lucky little badgers? Not only is chapter 25 earlier than (most of you probably) expected, it's nearly 5,500 words all by itself! I must say I'm proud of myself.**

**I hope this chapter makes up for the insane incomprehension of the last one. As I mentioned before, I was quite tired while writing the ending. I'll just say the indirect and fleeting verse was a tool used to convey the true confusion and delirium of our heroes u.u Yes, that's a good excuse I think. **

**In any case, I've decided to give up on estimating when this story is going to end. I had no idea exactly how much was going to go on during this 'final battle' scene, and I think I've only just gotten through the first half of the drama! Hopefully, very hopefully, if you guys don't mind what will probably be a longer chapter than this, I can wrap it all up and then tie up the fic by the twenty-seventh chapter. But as I said, we'll have to see.**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Hopefully the next one will come soon enough. **

**Happy New Years! **

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**Chapter 25**

Flippy stood still, thinking.

Sometimes thinking is all someone can do. Sometimes events become too confusing and the mind, too boggled with an endless stream of garbled information, forced the body must shut down and allow itself to try and make sense of insanity. Flippy, in his time, had witnessed many terrors. Some memories were chalk drawings, sketched in dirt, and were blurred by years of rainfall – the memory of the pictures, though, were enough to cause Flippy grief. There were fresher memories too, of friends being impaled or torn apart, and of blood, sometimes staining his own paws. His body was used to getting triggered and shutting down on its own accord.

Flippy knew madness, and what he saw in Flaky in that moment was nothing short of hysteria. For a while he couldn't process her words or her actions, so he only stood and watched as she frantically pulled out kitchen drawers, probably in search of a knife.

_"We have to kill them."_

There was the smallest part of Flippy that believed – oh, how much it wanted to try and believe – that by 'they', Flaky meant the strange and frightening god-cat whoevers, the ones riding a giant purple beaver who seemed so painfully familiar and talked of eating souls. Flippy knew better though. Even in the midst of all the insanity, the pure discontinuity, the incomprehension, there was still a little bit of him that was calm.

For a moment longer Flippy watched. Flaky, dressed in some of his own discarded clothes, now dirtied and torn beyond repair, her hair and quills sticking on-end from nerves. She was twitching and stuttering, her eyes wide and gleaming with fear, yet she seemed very different from the Flaky he had known. She was not the same porcupine Flippy had walked into the hospital-tree with all those endless days ago, and what frightened Flippy the most was that he didn't think it was for the better, not anymore.

Flaky was coming toward him, saying something and holding a kitchen knife out to the bear. Flippy couldn't quite understand what she was saying. It was muffled, like he was hearing her voice underwater. Dumbly, he reached out his hand and took the knife from her.

In Flippy's rational mind, Flaky had cracked, had finally snapped under the pressure. It wouldn't have been her fault – she'd spent the past uncountable number of weeks waiting on dozens of horribly sick animals, almost completely on her own; she'd suffered the deaths of friends and had died at her own hand; she'd witnessed the impossible, and then had to watch as it was dragged away into the unknown. And in the midst of all this, Flippy knew Flaky had felt completely defenseless, absolutely weak against the events transpiring against her. It made sense to Flippy that she'd gone mad and that something needed to be done about it, before she did something they would all regret, her most of all.

…It would be easy, Flippy realized suddenly. He had the knife in his hand. The blade felt almost familiar between his fingers, though he'd never consciously wielded a weapon in such a long time. Wouldn't it be the most sensible thing… to kill her first? The very though made Flippy's stomach sick, but he was so uncertain, about everything, that this one thought was the only thing that seemed to make any sort of sense. In war, sometimes sacrifices were made – sometimes to save many lives, you had to destroy a few. Sometimes it only took one kill to make things right again.

Flippy's fingers wrapped themselves tightly around the hilt of the knife. His eyes focused, returning Flaky's stare at last.

They stared at each other for a little bit longer. Flippy saw tears in the porcupine's big, beautiful scarlet eyes, but there was something else too. What was it; insanity, fear? Or maybe hope? Flippy didn't know and he'd never be able to tell, not even if he spent the rest of his years staring into Flaky's eyes. But whatever it was, it made him loosen his grip on the knife and point it away from Flaky's throat.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't face this all on his own. He was frightened and confused and so sure they were all going to die, for if all that Flaky claimed was true, how could they possibly win? Flippy realized he felt the exact same way he did back in the W.A.R., so capable yet so paralyzed, unable to help anyone, even himself.

Yet here was Flaky, standing as tall as she could hold herself, a knife in hand, about to do something she probably knew she would regret. She had no idea if anyone would live through this, and in truth she was probably more afraid than Flippy was, but she determined to do it anyway.

She offered him a hand. Flippy stared at it, wanting to grasp it in his paw. He hesitated. Flaky looked at him again, worry creasing her brow. "Flippy?"

Noises rumbled in their shared silence, sounds of the tree being ripped apart from the branches down. There was very little time now. Flippy needed to act.

"They say that the best fires burn brightest," whispered Flippy, "when circumstances are at their worst. I…I'm not sure if I believe you Flaky. Not about anything. I'm afraid and I don't think we can get through this, but…" He put his hand in hers, and then held it more tightly, bringing it closer to him. "I want to trust you. You've been taking care of all of us and helping us all the time, so I think the least I can do is stick by you and have your back. I'll do whatever you think is right. If you think killing our friends will save them from death, even if it's only for a while, then I'll help."

Flaky's face crumpled, and she buried her nose in Flippy's chest, letting a sob out. It was quiet, and she recovered quicker than Flippy expected, whipping away the ears though Flippy knew it must hurt her to hold back. But holding back is what one must do if they're to save lives. The porcupine took a deep breath and turned to the hole leading to the basement.

It was difficult for Flippy. He'd killed so many men before, but had done so looking through the eyes of another bear. The hands which had murdered and maimed belonged to his body but were not his. Memories of past sins didn't stain Flippy's mind as they should have. Now as he descended on his last remaining friends, slicing throats and trying to kill them as swiftly and painlessly as possible, Flippy could barely keep himself together. These memories would be his to hold, his burden to bear.

It was very little trouble, and the veteran bear was surprised (and somewhat discomforted) by the fact that Flaky did most of the killing. She was painfully clumsy in doing so, but quick about it. When Mole knocked the porcupine's knife from her hand in surprise and terror, using his walking stick to keep her at bay, Flaky resolved to pull a quill from her back and jam it in the mole's throat, bleeding him out. She took out Cuddles and Nutty as well. Petunia, who had actually tried attacking Flaky after the red female killed Nutty, had her throat slit by Flippy while the skunk wasn't paying attention.

It was a bloody affair and Flaky was crying by the time they'd finished, but there was no time for comfort. Flippy grasped Flaky's shoulders and quickly shoved her back towards the stairs as he heard the attention of the monsters direct back towards them. They'd finished tearing apart the top half of the tree, a process which had been very loud and very distracting, with falling bits of floor, furniture, glass and wood constantly raining upon them as they worked in the basement. As Flippy and Flaky made it back to the kitchen floor, large purple fingers had started digging into the earth around the tree, getting ready to uproot the entire structure from the ground.

As the floor trembled and the sky quaked above them, Flippy took hold of Flaky's hands and pulled her close. He whispered in her ear, loud enough to be heard over the uproar but soft, so only she could hear, "When the tree is uprooted, grab hold on one of the roots. Dig your claws into it if you have to. Use your knife. Stick close to me and we'll be alright, I think. We'll try our best to kill these psychos."

Flaky nodded, still whipping away tears, dirtied as they rolled down her dust-stained cheeks. There was blood staining her already crimson fur, painting morbid pictures on the shirt and pants Flippy had given her. Everything about her read disheveled. Flippy, overwhelmed by a sudden swell of affection for her, pulled the porcupine into a tight embrace. She gasped in surprise, and he laughed.

"We'll get through this," he muttered into her hair. They pulled apart, and Flippy smiled. "We'll get through this! Right?"

Flaky nodded, the slightest smile twitching on her lips.

The roots of the tree began to scream. Their tendrils snapped and split apart as they were torn from the earth. Quickly, both Flippy and Flaky acted. They ran towards the closest tree root, digging their knives and claws into the soft underbelly of the bark. Their breaths were taken away as the purple beast finally pulled the tree out of the earth, with roots snapping like elastic cords from the force. Chunks of rock and dirt whirled a shower, snowing through air as the tree was lifted higher and higher. Clots of dirt tumbled down into the hallow tree trunk, some striking Flippy and Flaky as the tree was lifted, as it began to tilt upside down. It was all Flippy could do not to become disoriented, or to be blinded from the whirlwind of debris, which now littered the air densely.

As the movement of the tree slowed and the filth in the air settled, Flippy was able to see around him. Any objects left remaining in the massive hospital-tree had either fallen out, broke, or were sliding down the inclined now, flying down through what was the top of the three, though it was now slightly beneath Flippy and Flaky. Through the walls of the tree were giant cracks, made by the beaver's claws.

The tree must have been demolished from the top, for all branches and leaves had been torn off, strewn carelessly across the clearing which circled the hospital-tree. As well as the top, the entire third story have been torn apart, leaving only two floors worth of tree left. Some of the stairways and floors were still left intact against the walls of the tree, but as gravity weighed down on everything, Flippy witnessed as chunks of flooring crumbled and fell.

Through the hole at the top of the tree, now below them, Flippy could see the two cats and the beaver. The purple beast have been holding the tree with both hands, holding it above his head so that the bottom and roots were pointed diagonally upward, and the top was open towards his head.

Luckily, neither the beaver nor the cats had spotted Flippy and Flaky yet. They were all invested in searching for any living Friends. The part of Flippy which had doubted Flaky couldn't help but feel very relieved they would find no one alive down there.

The bear turned to his partner, who had expended one hand to keeping her shirt over their now upturned heads. The knife was sticking out of the root, and her other hand had buried its claws deep into the meat of the tree, as well as those on her toes. Flippy cautiously but quickly pulled himself closer to her, leaning in close enough to whisper in her ear.

"Here's the plan," he said, his voice brisk but clear. "I'm going to let go of the root."

"What?" Flaky's voice squeaked. Flippy winced and nearly used a hand to shut her mouth, but his warning glare was enough to silence her.

"I said I'm going to let go Flaky. Listen, I need to distract them. It's no doubt they'll catch sight of me before I get close enough to try and attack, but I can still act as a distraction. You need to crawl onto the outside of the tree so that they don't see you. Or hide in the mass of roots and wait until you can attack."

Flaky shook her head. She made sure her voice was quiet when she said, "That's a horrible plan! What can I possible do? It'd be better if you were the one to hide and I get caught!"

Flippy shook his head – not because she was wrong, but because the very thought was a terror to him. "No, no, they won't be expecting you. You're quieter than I am, and if they try to hurt me I can hold my own. Listen Flaky, we don't have much time, I have to let go now!"

Tears threatened to breach her eyelids, but Flaky blinked them away, then nodded. Her face became straight and determined. "Go. I'll do my best."

"That's all I needed to hear. Good luck."

"Be careful."

"Promise."

The bear let go of the root, pulling his knife with him. His body hit the side of the tree with a quiet bang that hurt his hip, and before he could sort himself out, Flippy was sliding diagonally down towards the two gods. His decent was alarmingly swift, and he barely had any time to right himself, with his feet facing downward. Flippy was sure there was no possible way they'd fail to hear or see him approaching, so he prepared his knife, holding the blade between thumb and forefinger, aiming it carefully as he slid.

With no less than ten feet to spare, the white leopard's ear twitched. At that moment Flippy pushed himself onto his feet and threw his knife straight for her.

The leopard screamed as the steel of his knife buried itself into her left eye. Flippy leapt just before reaching the end of the tree trunk, over her head, and landed clumsily on the very back of the beaver's skull.

He needed to be quick. Flippy, encouraged by taking down one of the enemies already, quickly turned on his heel and prepared to grapple with the other. Maybe he'd rip the knife out of the feline's skull – the shock of seeing his comrade fall so suddenly might stun the black one long enough for Flippy to-

The white leopard chortled with glee as she pulled the knife out her impaled socket. There was a hideous amount of blood flowing from the wound, but then, in the blink of her good eye, the wound was suddenly gone. The gaping hole was suddenly full, and she suddenly had another eye, and the blood had all of a sudden stopped flowing. Flippy's body was rigid as he watched the female twirl the knife between her fingers, cackling.

The knife became a snake.

"Looky! Looky 'ere brother, looky who we got 'ere!"

"I see him, sister."

"Ain' 'ey jus' ador'ble? Tryin' t' off a god! Ev'n brought a knife t' the party!"

The snake became a baseball bat.

The female raised the bat over her shoulder, electric-green eyes flashing at Flippy as he stared in horror. "Maysby I sh' bash 'is head in with it, huh brother?"

The female laughed, and Flippy dared take his eyes off her for a second, focusing on the black feline who stood slightly further back. Immediately his heart stopped beating.

"You know me." It wasn't a question, but a statement, uttered by the black leopard. It was amused, almost coming out as a purr. "I know you very well, Flippy. You've walked my fields. You've felt my touch and have fed me with your madness." An evil smile. "You were always my favorite of them."

"Oh mine too, mine too!" cried the female. She grinned at Flippy. "Yer friend's my friend y'know, I made 'im!"

She started to sing, "Sleepin' in a carcass, blood an' meat an' bone, screamin' in our heads, take me home, take me home!" The bat in her hands turned into a mirror. She held it up and showed it to Flippy so he could see his face. "Close y' eyes an' count to ten, let 'im come home! Close y' eyes an' out 'ey comes t' eat on flesh an' bone!"

"Oh look," said the male, exasperation evident in his voice, "you've got her singing. Well done."

The female sang a song of insanity, leaving Flippy to stare at his own reflection, though he only saw Evil grinning back. For a second he humored the idea of being in one of his nightmares, enjoyed the wisp of a hope that he'd soon be waking up. His reflection started to laugh.

"Close y' eyes an' out 'ey comes t' eat on flesh an' bone," drawled the female, her voice suddenly deadpan and dripping with rot. Flippy's eyes widened as Evil's head phased out of the mirror; then shoulder, then arm, then legs.

Flippy wanted to back away, but any move might send him off the edge of the purple beaver's head. He watched as the monster, now ordered by a wave of the black leopard's hand, uncaringly took the tree and tossed it away from them. The crash was loud, and splintering wood cracked painfully against Flippy's ears. He could only hope Flaky survived the sudden throw. He wanted desperately to look over to see if he could spot any red, but knew if he did these gods might know he was up to something.

"What are you?" Flippy managed to ask, gasping slightly as the reflection got to its feet. It looked very much like Evil did the last time Flippy saw him, but its shirt was hardly a shirt, mostly strips of white cloth stained with blood; there were deep, bleeding grooves that looked like rope injuries scarring his belly and chest. His body had been branded with the same type of rune-like scars as the beaver, and blood was seeping from the disheveled bear's ears. By their lack of movement Flippy realized that Evil couldn't hear anything – they'd busted his eardrums somehow.

The black leopard tilted his head in mock confusion. "Who are we? Oh, but I think you know who we are, Flippy. We both know you very well."

Flippy shook his head angrily, hating the vagueness of the answer, despising the cool demeanor of this creature. He turned back to the white one. "And what about you? You said you… made Evil?"

The white leopard giggled, holding Evil's head affectionately against her, toying with his shredded ears. "Not technically I s'pose. I jus' gave 'im a voice, y'see. Everyone's a lil' crazy deep down, my dear brother jus' helped you t' allow my lil' pet 'ere to take over!"

The female's attitude suddenly shifted, and she pushed Evil away, her face distorting into that of impatience and disgust. She turned to her brother. "Why we talkin' t' this lil' shit fer? Ah'm fuckin' tired o' stickin' 'round this hellhole! C'n we jus' consume 'is soul an' bust outta 'ere already? Ah wanna show our miser'ble cousins what 'appins when y' trap two gods fer a thousan' years!"

Evil was shifting as well, barring his teeth in a familiar grin that was hungry for blood and carnage. Flippy shuffled away a bit, only to feel the hand of the black leopard touch his shoulder. Sudden flashes of the W.A.R consumed his vision, and Flippy cried as he pulled away, falling onto his knees, nauseous from the sudden wave of negative memories and fear. He stared wide-eyed at the male feline, suddenly feeling much, much smaller, and somehow subservient beneath his hot red gaze, like the flames of battle. "You… you're…"

The wild cat grinned. He turned to his sister and said, "Go ahead. Rip him to shreds."

A rough hand grabbed Flippy's left arm, digging its claws into his covered flesh. The veteran bear turned to see his double, now possessed and dumb to the world around him, violently pull at Flippy's arm in an attempt to draw him closer. The mangy bear's teeth were sharpened and aimed for Flippy's throat. Flippy twisted his hip, getting his legs between his body and Evil's. He kicked forcefully, but Evil somehow seemed stronger than ever, and barely moved an inch. Primal, rabid fear erupted in Flippy's body as he realized that he had no way of escape. He could not tear himself away from Evil, and even if he did these gods wouldn't let him get away so easily. Imagining what it would fell like to have Evil's teeth dig into his flesh and tear him apart, Flippy opened his mouth to scream in terror.

The noise was drowned out by a car horn and gunshots.

The scene, clenched by tension so that Flippy's body was moving slowly while boiling on the inside, suddenly exploded into movement and noise. Something hit Evil's cheek, and was powerful enough to throw the other bear back and loosen his grip on Flippy. The two gods to Flippy's right both turned to look behind Flippy, hissing at the disturbance in unison.

Flippy didn't waste time looking behind him to see what had saved him. He attempted to get to his feet and run, but now the creature beneath him was screeching. The beaver reared onto its hind legs, crying in pain. The movement threw Flippy completely off balance, and he tumbled backward, rolling over head and shoulders and down the beaver's back. Flippy flailed to grab something, anything, and hang on, fearing what it might feel like to smack against the ground from such a height.

His fingers found their grip on a knot of matted purple fur, clotted and hard from dried blood. It was a few inches below a still-flowing inscription. The stench of blood was overwhelming but Flippy closed his watering eyes and ignored the familiar scent as it stained his jacket, choosing instead to try and assess what the hell was going on.

He wasn't expecting for the answer to be two raccoons and a young buck. If Flippy wasn't still feeling the effects of horrible dread, and maybe if Evil wasn't slowly crawling down the beaver's shoulders towards Flippy, half his face torn and bleeding, the bear might have laughed at the impossible scene before him. There, driving from the line of trees that surrounded the clearing was Lifty, Shifty, and Mime, and they had hijacked Flippy's van. From where he was situated, Flippy could just see Mime in the glass of the front window, trying wildly to control the large vehicle despite all the chaos.

Lifty and Shifty were much easier to spot. The two of them were standing on the hood of the car, guns in their hands – Flippy wasn't sure exactly what kind – and they were shooting anything in their way. Shifty seemed to aim for the gods and Evil, while Lifty focused on raining bullets at the purple beaver, who continued to shift and screech in pain.

Flippy had questions – like how in the hell had Lifty and Shifty made it all the way to town? How the hell did they find his keys so they could steal his car? There was no time to think it over, however, because Evil's snarl was now audible over the gun shots and screeching. Flippy glanced downward, wondering if he'd be able to survive a fall. They were still up pretty high, but the bear didn't have much choice in the matter. He let go, trying to best to control the way he slid down the beaver's long back, over his rump and down onto his tail, rolling uncontrollably until his body twisted sideways somehow, sending the bear rolling onto the uneven ground.

There was no time to waste. The purple monster was going insane now, bullets digging into his gut as Mime drove the car under the upright beaver. The deer then swerved, tires screaming, with Lifty and Shifty shouting excitedly at the top of their lungs, determined to be heard over their absurd spree of trigger-happy mayhem. The two cats above were somehow keeping their balance easily while standing atop their mount, but they must have lost their tempers, a thought evidenced by the lashing of their tails and the flurry of attacks they threw at the raccoons. They seemed to pull shadows and moonlight from about them, clutching it in their hands and then throwing the bullets like baseballs. The shadows burst hungrily, and the light scorched whatever it touched.

Flippy didn't try to make sense of it. Evil was right behind him. If Flaky was right, and those two cat-god-whatever's needed to consume a soul to escape the area, then it was up to Flippy to catch up with the thieving raccoons and their chauffeur and get the hell away as soon as possible. Whatever happened after they broke the line of trees was unimaginable, but it was as far as Flippy could plan. He wanted to stick to some sort of order.

There was one problem Flippy realized as he ran, debating whether to try and finish Evil off or simply attempt jumping onto the moving truck. Flippy had no idea where Flaky had gone. Worst case scenario was that she'd been killed after that beaver tossed the tree away… or maybe that would be a good thing? Flippy wasn't sure, but personally, the very idea of Flaky being dead at the moment made him weak-kneed and sick. Glancing toward the now discarded and completely destroyed hospital tree, Flippy decided it wouldn't hurt to at least try to find her.

He scampered for the roots of the broken tree, trying to keep one ear open for events which transpired behind him. The gods seemed not to notice that their little prisoner had fled – that or they didn't miss him. They were much too busy attacking Lifty, Shifty, and Mime. Part of Flippy wondered how two beings which claimed themselves to be gods, and who had undoubtedly proved such facts as true, still hadn't easily swatted the pestering crew away like flies. Then came the surprisingly simple answer: they weren't powerful enough yet. If they had powers of gods, then they wouldn't still be here, would they? They would have escaped by now. They were somehow bound to this area, and needed more energy to escape. As Flippy ran, he shivered at the idea of what would happen should they find said key to escape.

He made it quickly to the burial site of the hospital tree. The dirt had exploded beneath the impact of the falling tree, leaving a small crater to outline the broken trunk; loose dirt and rocks lay everywhere, hidden beneath layers of snapped twigs and leaves. Flippy hastily made his way through the mess, heading straight for the braid of roots at the tree trunk's base. He skillfully climbed up the first few roots, making his way to the top so he could peek through gaps, looking for any sign of red fur. "Flaky?"

The war bear twitched an ear to listen, but there came not a sound in response. He continued, glancing over his shoulder now and then to check on the events he'd left behind. The battle still went on, with the two gods throwing larger projectiles, and Mime's driving quickly loosing focus – the deer must be panicked, for he swerved dangerously, throwing the raccoon brothers hither and thither dangerously. Flippy knew that he needed to find Flaky soon, before the tables inevitably turned to the gods' favor.

He took note of Evil too. The other bear must have leapt from the beaver's shoulders rather than slide down, because he was limping towards Flippy in no apparent hurry. The bullet wound left a small, ugly hole on the side of Evil's face, leaving raw bleeding flesh exposed. The way Evil kept winking, Flippy guessed the blow must also have injured the mangy bear's left eye as well. Flippy mentally took note of all these injuries, which could aid him in the future, should the twin bears meet again.

The gnarled forest of roots left only small openings between each, but as Flippy wriggled further from the base of the tree, the spaces grew wider and it was easier to see. Flippy saw no body crushed beneath the roots closest to the ground, so he searched at eye level, as well as keeping an eye on the roots hanging above him. He circled around the tree once he was done, and repeated the process once more, keeping a sharp eye on the trees around him. He jumped at every shadow that moved, every notably sharp sound coming from the battle beyond, but nothing was Flaky.

After another few seconds, just after Flippy had checked Evil again – the other bear was getting unsettlingly close, but Flippy decided to risk another round – the veteran realized something was wrong. There was something missing in the buzzing of his head, a key note on an orchestra within his skull that had suddenly ceased playing. He realized, his gut churning, that the gunshots had stopped popping in the atmosphere. The raccoons had run out of ammo.

There was no more time to look. Without guns to keep the gods hurt and distracted, the two felines would now be able to directly assault Flippy's friends. If they wanted any chance of survival, they'd have to leave immediately.

Flippy clenched his fists in anger, frustration, and utter fear. He'd found no trace of Flaky, dead or alive. Leaving now would mean abandoning her. The very thought was sickening, but deep down, Flippy knew his duties now were just as important. Helping his friends get out of here alive, if only for a little while, was what Flaky would have wanted in any case. The green bear turned reluctantly to hurry away, catch the boys, leave.

The wrath of hell descended upon him. Evil, who had picked up speed as soon as Flippy turned his back, leapt from the top of the fallen tree and landed heavily against Flippy's unsuspecting form. The two bears tumbled roughly to the ground, rocks and sticks jabbing into their clothing. Flippy was disoriented, but wildly kicked his arms and legs, hoping to catch Evil somewhere which would cause the bear to release him. His foot managed to forcefully kick Evil's shoulder, driving the growling bear from Flippy's shoulders. Flippy scurried quickly to his hands and knees, backing away as Evil slowly got to his feet.

There would be no running. In the fall, Flippy must have injured himself in the leg somewhere, because a pain he hadn't felt during the attack suddenly made itself very apparent. The sole of his foot was searing with pain, and his angle throbbed beneath an unknown pressure. He must have broken it, or at least twisted it severely once thrown off balance. Unwillingly, Flippy was pushed back to fallen hospital tree, trapped beneath the gaze of his psychotic double.

Evil's green eyes glimmered. They held no glee, no pride, no excitement – only hatred. Flippy, in all his years of flipping out, of experiencing Evil's emotions through a glass well, had never once seen or felt hatred. Evil killed for the pure, primal fun of it; to him it was merely a great thirst that needed quenching. He was the part of Flippy – the neglected, twisted part – that craved carnage and thrived off it. He did it for the joy, never out of anger or hatred. In his last moments, watching Evil pull his trusty bowie knife from his loose belt, Flippy thought it fair to wonder what, exactly, the gods must have done to Evil to break him so deeply.

The knife caught moonlight, winking into Flippy's eye. It blessed him with the mercy of blindness in his final moments.

And neither Flippy nor Evil noticed the feet approaching, or the quill as it was driven straight through Evil's back.

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**I hope you enjoyed your read! Reviews are advised and adored~**


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